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'^fSi?*'^-""--  " 


SITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 
R.   L,   Llnscott 


HANDBOOK 


OF 


LATIN    ^YEITIKG, 


BY 


HENRY   PREBLE,    A.B.  (Harv.), 


CHARLES   P.    PARKER,    B.A.   (Oxux.). 


REVISED  EDITION. 


GINN   &  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK   •   CHICAGO  •  LONT)ON 


Entered,  accordini;  to  Act  of  CongresB,  in  the  year  1890,  by 
HENRY   PREBLE  and  (.'IIARLES   P.   PARKER, 

ill  tlic  ODii-c  of  tlie  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 
39.8 


tCfce   gtbtnaum   jPrtsa 

f.lNN    .<:    COMI'ANV  •   PRO- 
I'UlliTURS  .  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


? 


PEEFACE. 
V  """"^ 

\  In  preparing  this  handbook  it  has  not  been  our  object 
I  to  write  an  exhaustive  work  upon  Latin  composition,  but 
"^  merely  to  make  the  labor  of  both  pupil  and  teacher  easier, 
by  putting  into  compact  form  various  points  which  we  have 
found  it  necessary  constantly  to  reiterate  to  our  pupils. 
A  knowledge  of  forms  and  of  syntax,  and  some  practice 
in  turning  easy  narrative  prose  into  Latin,  has  been  pre- 
supposed. 

Feeling  that  ill  success  in  Latin  writing  is  largely  due  to 
the  habit  of  translating  the  words  rather  than  the  thought, 
V^  we  have  aimed  in  the  Introductory  Remarks  and  the  Sug- 
^    gestions  at  fastening  attention  upon  the  thought,  and  have 
'^  tried  to  show  the  learner  how  to  express  in  Latin  form  the 
.      ideas  which  he  has  grasped  from  the  English  words.     We 
V^'^^^'e  endeavored  to  make   our   suggestions    as    concise   as 
)0ssible,  and  have  purposely  used   examples   rather  spar- 
ingly, in  the  hope  of   encouraging   close  attention  on  the 
part  of  pupils. 

We  have  tried  to  choose  exercises  which  seemed  to  us 
to  be  of  more  general  application,  and  less  like  Chinese 
puzzles  than  those  commonly  used,  many  of  which,  even 
when  satisfactorily  worked  out,  do  not,  in  a  degree  at  all 


111 


4075265 


IV  PREFACE. 

proportionate  to  the  labor  involved,  increase  tlie  pupil's 
power  to  deal  with  the  next  exercise.  We  have  graded  the 
work  in  a  general  way,  but  have  not  considered  it  necessary 
to  do  so  very  minutely. 

We  wish  to  acknowledge  otii-  indebtedness  on  various 
points  to  the  excellent  works  of  J.  E.  Nixon,  A.  W.  Potts, 
(t.  L.  Bennett,  and  Allen  &  Greenough. 

We  Avould  further  express  our  sincerest  thanks  to  Profes- 
sors G.  M.  Lane,  F.  D.  Allen,  J.  B.  Greenough,  and  C.  L. 
Smith  of  Harvard  University,  for  their  kindness  in  looking 
over  proof,  and  for  many  valuable  suggestions. 

Cambridgk,  June  8,  1884. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION. 


The  first  edition  of  this  handbook  grew  out  of  the  neces- 
sities of  class  Avork  at  Harvard  College.  The  development 
of  Latin  Avriting  there  and  the  fuller  experience  of  the 
authors  make  some  modification  of  the  handbook  now  seem 
desirable.  In  the  new  edition  we  have  retained  the  essen- 
tial principle  of  the  first  edition,  but  we  have  simplified 
and  otherwise  improved  the  introductory  remarks  and  the 
suggestions  in  Part  II.  The  treatment  of  Latin  word- 
arrangement,  in  particular,  has  been  much  more  systema- 
tized, while  more  explicit  and,  we  hope,  more  practical 
suggestions  have  been  given  in  regard  to  the  subjunctive. 

Forty  of  the  exercises  had  proved  less  useful  than  was 
hoped,  and  others  have  been  substituted  for  them.  In 
making  this  change,  we  have  aimed  at  securing  a  greater 
proportion  of  easier  exercises,  and  have  rearranged  and 
more  definitely  graded  all.  We  do  not,  however,  mean  to 
indicate  that  a  slavish  adherence  to  their  sequence  is 
desirable. 

June  18,  1890. 


PREFACE    TO    THE    SECOND    REVISION. 


We  have  taken  the  opportunity  of  a  new  edition  to  cor- 
rect a  few  misprints,  and  to  make  three  or  four  changes  in 
Part  II.  Also,  in  cases  where  the  plates  could  easily  be 
changed,  we  have  added  to  the  exercises  the  names  of  the 
writers  from  whom  they  are  taken.  Experience  has  shown 
that  the  literary  interest  in  a  comparison  of  English  and 
Latin  style  is  increased  by  thus  giving  the  names. 

July  20,   1807. 


PART  I. 
INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 

In  translating  from  English  into  Latin,  the  first  thing 
to  do  is  to  find  out  exactly  what  the  English  means. 
The  next  thing  is  to  put  the  thought  (not  the  words) 
thus  grasped  into  Latin  form. 

Latin  differs  from  English  fundamentally  in  regard 
to  the  arrangement  of  the  words  in  a  sentence.  An 
ordinary  English  sentence,  in  the  great  majority  of 
cases,  has  the  following  order:  Subject,  Verb,  Object, 
Adverbial  ]\Iodifier.  So  in  short  phrases  there  is  a  regu- 
lar order:  for  instance,  wdien  an  adjective  modifies  a 
noun  it  almost  invariably  precedes  the  noun ;  as,  "  a 
warm  day,"-  "  that  easy  lesson  " ;  when  a  prepositional 
phrase  is  connected  with  a  noun,  adjective,  or  verb,  it 
follows  these  parts  of  speech ;  as,  "  the  temple  of  Sat- 
urn," "  good  for  ten  days,"  "  have  you  been  to  the 
Vatican?"  In  Latin,  on  the  other  hand,  the  words 
have  no  such  fixed  order  based  upon  their  grammatical 
relations  to  each  other.  They  are  arranged  according 
to  their  relative  importance  in  the  thought,  the  most 
important  word  standing  first,  the  next  most  important 
next,  and  so  on.  In  short,  simple  expressions,  the  most 
important  word  corresponds  to  the  word  which  we  call 
the  emphatic  word  of  the  expression  and  upon  which  we 
put  the  greatest  stress  of  voice  in  spoken  English. 
Thus  if  a  Roman  wished  to  indicate  what  we  mean  by 
sajdng  "  a  hrave  man,"  he  put  the  words  in  the  order 

1 


2  INTRODUCTOKY   EEISIARKS. 

FOiiTis  \ii:;  if  he  meant  "a  brave  man,^^  he  said  viR 
FORTis.  So  Cicero  dixit  means  "-Cicero  said";  dixit 
Cicero,  "  Cicero  saidJ' 

Note.  —  The  pupil  sliould  acquire  an  exact  idea  of  what  is 
meant  by  different  degrees  of  emphasis  or  relative  importance, 
namely,  that  when  we  emphasize  a  word,  we  call  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  idea  denoted  by  it,  as  either  (1)  positively  contrasted 
with  some  other  idea  of  the  same  class,  or  (2)  as  negatively  con- 
trasted with  other  such  ideas  in  general.  Thus,  when  we  say  "a 
bi-aue  man,"  we  are  either  contrasting  "brave"  as  a  quality  posi- 
tively and  sharply  with  some  other  quality,  as  "  cowardly,"  or  we 
are  calling  especial  attention  to  the  idea  "brave"  as  distinguished 
from  other  possible  ideas  of  quality.  So  if  we  emphasize  "man," 
we  either  contrast  that  kind  of  being  with  some  other,  as  woman 
or  angel,  or  we  call  particular  attention  to  that  kind  of  being  from 
among  all  possible  beings. 

It  will  easily  be  seen  that  very  delicate  shades  of 
meaning  can  thus  be  distinctly  indicated  in  Latin  by 
the  mere  arrangement  of  the  words,  when  in  English 
the  form  of  the  expression  often  has  to  be  changed,  or 
some  mechanical  device  like  italics  or  underlining 
has  to  be  employed.  Such  different  arrangements  as 
the  following  should  be  carefully  studied :  — 

(1)  puer  heri  in  portu  mecum  navigavit. 

(2)  heri  puer  mecum  in  portu  navigavit. 

(3)  in  portu  heri  puer  mecum  navigavit. 

(4)  mecum  navigavit  in  portu  heri  puer. 

(5)  navigavit  heri  mecum  in  portu  puer. 

The  pupil  should  observe  that  while  the  first  arrange- 
ment means,  "  the  boy  sailed  with  me,  etc.,"  the  sec- 
ond means,  we  sailed  yesterday^,  rather  than  to-day  or 
last  week ;  the  third,  we  sailed  in  the  harbor,  not  on 
the  river  or  lake ;  the  fourth,  he  sailed  with  me  ;  the 


THE   TERIOD. 


fifth,  we  SAELBD  rather  than  swam.  But  he  should 
also  learn  to  feel  the  more  subtle  differences  of  meaning 
involved  in  arrano-inGf  the  later  words  of  the  sentence  in 
different  ways.  This  becomes  easy  after  a  little  practise 
in  trying  to  understand  the  Latin  ivithout  translating  it. 

THE   rEPvTOD. 

The  Romans  were  especially  fond  of  a  periodic  struc- 
ture of  sentences ;  that  is,  of  long,  artistically  moulded 
sentences,  consisting  of  a  main  clause  and  several  sub- 
ordinate clauses,  the  parts  all  carefully  balanced,  and 
the  whole  closing  with  the  principal  verb.  Strictly 
speaking,  the  period  should  begin  also  Avith  some  word 
belonging  to  the  main  clause,  but  we  may  call  any  sen- 
tence a  periodic  sentence  in  which  the  sense  is  not 
completed  until  the  last  word  is  reached.  Now  the 
verb,  from  its  nature,  completes  the  sense  unless  the 
preceding  words  indicate  that  something  else  is  neces- 
sary.    Therefore  in  a  periodic  structure  of  sentences  :  — 

(1)  the  verb  tends  to  stand  last  in  its  clause  ; 

(2)  most  subordinate  clauses  precede  the  main  clause, 
or  are  inserted  between  the  first  word  or  words  of  the 
main  clause  and  the  rest  of  that  clause ; 

(3)  clauses  of  result,  however,  generally  stand  after 
the  word  on  which  they  depend,  as  do  other  clauses 
which  like  them  are  prepared  for  by  the  preceding  con- 
text and  are  necessary  to  its  completeness. 

We  may  note  here  that  this  periodic  structure  should 
not  be  abused  so  as  to  produce  a  great  piling  up  of 
verbs  at  the  end  of  a  sentence,  or  to  leave  a  solitary 
word  of  the  main  clause  far  away  from  all  the  other 
words  with  which  in  idea  it  is  intimately  connected. 


CONTINUOUS   WRITING. 


CONTINUOUS   AVRITING. 


Another  Aery  important  difference  between  English 
and  Latin  is  .seen  in  continuous  writing-.  In  English, 
roughly  speaking,  each  of  the  main  ideas  which  contril)- 
ute  to  the  thought  as  a  whole  is  put  into  a  sentence  by 
itself.  These  sentences  are  sometimes  loosely  joined 
together  by  words  like  "  or,"  "  but,"  "  and  "  ;  sometimes 
succeed  each  other  without  any  connective.  In  Latin, 
on  the  other  hand,  some  one  idea  is  seized  as  a  central 
point  and  expressed  in  the  main  sentence,  while  all  the 
other  ideas  are  grouped  about  it  in  more  or  less  sul> 
ordinate  relations  according  to  the  periodic  construction 
described  above.  As  regards  the  order  of  the  clauses  it 
should  be  remembered,  that  a  clause  grammatically  less 
important  than  another  may  have  more  importance  in 
the  thoiu/ht,  and  therefore  stand  earlier  in  the  period. 
Common  ways  of  expressing  subordinate  relations  are 
the  Ablative  Absolute,  the  Participles  of  Deponent 
Verbs,  the  Secondary  Tenses  of  the  Subjunctive  with 
cum,  the  Perfect  Indicative  with  nbl  or  poatquam,  and 
the  Present  Indicative  with  chrm.  The  differences  in 
these  constructions  are  too  subtle  to  be  profitably  dis- 
cussed here.  Practically  the  student  may  be  recom- 
mended to  choose,  in  any  given  case,  the  construction 
which  makes  the  sentence  smoothest,  not  forgetting 
that  variety  is  an  excellent  thing. 

Successive  sentences  in  Latin  are  furthermore  linked 
together  by  choosing  for  the  emjjhatic  first  place  of 
each  sentence  after  the  first  that  word  which,  by  bring- 
ing out  a  contrast  with  the  end  of  the  previous  sen- 
tence, most  smoothly  and  closely  welds  the  combined 
thought  together.     Tliis  linking  of  sentence  with  sen- 


CONTrNUOUS   WIMTIN.G.  5 

teiice  enables  us  to  secure  continuous  composition  with- 
out resorting  wholly  to  long  sentences.  Variety  in 
length  is  important  towards  securing  a  good  effect. 

The  Romans  developed  a  particular  fondness  for 
euphonious  and  rhythmically  flowing  sentences.  There 
were  various  rhetorical  arrangements  which  tended  to 
produce  such  sentences,  but  the  Latin  writers,  especially 
Cicero,  were  particularly  careful  to  choose  words  whose 
alternations  of  long  with  short  syllables  and  accented 
with  unaccented  syllables  were  agreeable,  and,  above  all, 
made  a  graceful  cadence  for  the  end  of  the  sentence. 

II.I.USTRATIVE    EXERCISE. 

The  following  exercise  may  serve  at  once  to  illustrate 
these  remarks,  and  to  introduce  some  more  special  sug- 
gestions upon  Latin  idiom :  — 

When  Octavianus  was  at  Samos  after  the  battle  of  Actium,  he 
ordered  the  prisoners  to  be  summoned  for  trial.  Among  others 
there  was  brought  before  him  an  old  man,  named  jNIetellus,  op- 
pressed with  age  and  infirmities,  and  so  much  disfigured  by  a  long 
beard  and  ragged  clothes,  that  his  son,  who  happened  to  be  one  of 
the  judges,  could  scarcely  recognize  him.  When,  however,  he  at 
length  recollected  the  old  man's  featvires,  he  was  so  far  from  being 
ashamed  to  own  his  father,  that  he  ran  to  embrace  him,  and  wept 
over  him  bitterly.  Then  returning  towards  the  tribunal,  "  Caesar," 
says  he,  "my  father  has  been  your  enemy,  and  I  your  officer;  he 
deserves  to  be  punished,  and  I  to  be  rewarded.  The  favor  I  desire 
of  you  is,  either  to  save  him  on  my  account,  or  to  order  me  to  be 
executed  with  him."  The  rest  of  the  judges  were  melted  by  so 
affecting  a  scene.  Octavianus  himself  relented,  and  granted  Metel- 
lus  his  life  and  liberty. 

On  reading  over  tliis  exercise,  we  observe  that  the 
first  statement  in  it  which  a  Roman  would  take  as  the 
principal  verb  of  a  period  is  "was  brought."     He  would 


b  CONTINUOUS   WRITING. 

combine  with  this  as  a  subonliiiate  chiiise  the  statement 
in  the  first  Englisli  sentence.  We  observe  further  that 
the  whole  anecdote  centres  about  Octavian.  We  there- 
fore take  his  name  as  the  emphatic  first  word  of  our 
sentence  and  write  Ad  Octavianum.  The  next  impor- 
tant thing  is  the  circumstances  under  which  the  act  of 
the  main  verb  took  place,  and  this  we  express  by  a 
clause  with  cum  and  the  subjunctive,  —  pluperfect,  be- 
cause the  ordering  had  been  done  before  the  bringing  up 
of  the  prisoners  occurred.  Opinions  might  differ  as  to 
whether  "  at  Samos "  or  "  after  the  battle  of  Actium " 
is  the  more  prominent  idea,  but  perhaps  there  is  a  little 
more  ground  for  making  the  place  Samos  the  more 
prominent.  This  is  of  course  expressed  by  the  locative 
Sayni  and  followed  by  post  Actiacam  pugnam.  We  put 
Actiacam  before  piignam^  because  the  fact  that  it  was 
that  battle  is  more  important  than  that  it  was  a  battle. 
Then  come  the  "  prisoners,"  in  the  accusative  (captivoii) 
as  object  of  the  verb  to  come,  then  tlie  thing  that  was 
done  to  them,  expressed  by  the  phrase  in  ins  vocari,  de- 
pending on  the  vei'b  of  ordering,  iussisset,  which  ends 
the  clause,  because  the  fact  of  the  ordering  is  less  im- 
portant than  the  nature  of  the  order.  Thus  we  have 
so  far  Ad  Octavianum^  cum  Sami  post  Actiacam  pugnam 
captivos  in  ius  vocai'i  iussisset. 

The  next  important  idea  in  the  development  of  the 
thought  is  "  among  others,"  i7iter  alios.  Then  we  put 
the  main  verb,  adductus  est,  not  so  much  to  make  this 
verb  prominent  as  to  avoid  making  its  subject  too 
prominent.  The  subject  is  wanted  next,  however,  and 
we  write  senex  quidam,  Metellus  nomine,  because  the 
thought  is  developed  better  thus  than  by  naming  the 
individual  old  man  first.      Metellus  was  enfeebled  by 


CONTINUOUS    WRITING.  .  7 

age^  and  this  we  express  by  the  participle  confectus  with 
the  ablatives  of  means  aetate  et  debilitate  before  it.  j\Ie- 
tellus  was  furthermore  disfigured  by  a  long  beard  and 
clothes  that  were  ragged,  and  indeed  to  such  an  extent 
that  HIS  OWN  son  scarcely  knew  him.  We  M'rite,  there- 
fore, aetate  et  debilitate  confectus  atque  ita  barba  longa 
squalidisque  vestimentis  deformafus  ut  ipsius  filius.  Be- 
fore the  statement  of  what  Metellus's  son  did  or  did 
not  do,  however,  we  need  to  account  for  his  presence  by 
the  parenthetical  clause  "who  happened  to  be  amonr/  the 
judges."  The  verb  for  recognizing  is  in  the  perfect  sub- 
junctive to  express  a  result  simply  as  occurring  in  past 
time,  and  we  thus  finish  oui-  first  period  by  qui  forte 
inter  indices  erat,  vix  eum  agnoverit. 

The  next  period  should  tell  what  the  son  did.  He 
was  not  ashamed  of  his  father,  as  one  might  possibly 
suppose  (hence  tameti),  but  ran  up  to  him  and  embraced 
him  with  tears  in  his  ejes.  Tliis  a  Roman  would  ex- 
press graphically  by  a  sentence  with  tantum  aberat,  and  a 
double  subjunctive  of  result.  We  make,  of  coui'se,  our 
first  emphatic  word  the  pronoun  which  refers  to  the 
younger  Metellus,  he  being  the  last  prominent  object  of 
thought,  and  we  make  the  connection  with  the  previous 
sentence  still  smoother  b}'  using  a  relative  pronoun. 
But,  before  stating  that  the  son  was  not  ashamed  of  his 
father,  we  need  to  record  the  circumstance  that  he  did 
finally  remember  his  face.  This  we  do  by  a  clause  Avith 
cum  and  the  pluperfect  subjunctive,  and  thus  have  for 
our  second. period:  Qui  tamen  cum  aliquando  voltum  senis 
recordatus  esset,  tantum  aberat  ut  patris  eum  puderet  ut 
adcurreret  atque  ilium  midtis  eum  lacrumis  amplecteretur. 

The  next  sentence  consists  of  the  verb  of  sapng  and 
the  fii'st  part  of  Metellus's  speech,  but  preceded  by  the 


8  •         CONTINUOUS   WRITING. 

perfect  participle  reversus^  indicating  that  lie  returned, 
and  this  preceded  by  ad  tribunal,  to  show  the  place  to 
which  he  returned,  before  speaking.  For  the  direct 
quotation  of  a  short  speech  inquit  is  regularly  used  and 
inserted  after  a  word  or  two  of  the  speech.  The  paits 
of  the  speech  itself  can  be  effectively  balanced  against 
each  other,  and  the  whole  introduced,  as  in  English,  by 
the  adverb  of  time,  which  thus  serves  to  connect  these 
sentences  with  the  preceding,  as  follows :  Turn  ad  tri- 
bunal reversus,  '•'' Inimicus  tuus,^^  inquit,  '-^Caesar,  pater 
fuit,  ego  autem  Icgatus ;  quare  meriti  sumus  ego  laudem, 
poenam  ille.^'' 

The  speech  goes  on  to  ask  a  favor  of  Octavian,  which 
we  indicate  by  hoe  tantum  peto  and  a  clause  with  ut 
defining  the  hoc.  The  greater  fondness  of  the  Latin  for 
visual  connection  of  sentences  leads  us  to  insert  igitur, 
and  we  soften  the  statement  by  the  addition  to  hoc  of 
tantum  (this  and  no  more).  The  sentence  then  takes 
form  as  follows :  "  Hoc  igitur  tantum  a  te  peto  ut  aut 
serves  ilium  mea  causa  aut  me  cum  illo  interfici  iubeas." 

There  is  then  left  only  a  single  period,  in  which  the 
effect  of  the  younger  Metellus's  speech  upon  the  judges 
and  upon  Octavian  is  told.  We  connect  this  period 
with  the  preceding  by  the  relative  i)ronoun  cuius  agree^ 
ing  with  facti,  and  thus  bring  the  anecdote  to  a  focus 
as  it  were.  This  genitive  depends  upon  an  ablative, 
cxi)ressing  the  admiring  wonder  of  the  judges,  and  then 
follow  indices  and  the  verb  stating,  in  the  perfect  indic- 
ative passive,  that  they  were  affected.  The  verb  is 
modified  by  graviter  (deeply),  which  is  made  slightly 
emphatic  l)y  being  placed  before  its  verb.  The  period 
consists  of  a  compound  sentence  whose  two  parts  can 
be  neatly  balanced  by  non  modo  .  .  .  sed,  with   Octa- 


CONTINUOUS    WRITING.  9 

vianus  as  the  most  emphatic  idea  in  the  second  member. 
We  emphasize  Octavian  still  more  by  placing  an  ipse 
before  his  name.  The  first  effect  upon  him  was  that  he 
was  persuaded  to  grant  the  request  (exoratus)  ;  the  sec- 
ond, that  he  did  grant  life  and  liberty  to  the  old  man. 
The  word  for  "  life,"  as  the  most  important  idea,  comes 
first  after  exoratus^  then  seni^  and  we  end  the  narrative 
effectively  by  the  perfect  "granted"  (concessif)^  fol- 
lowed by  atque  lihertatem.  Thus:  Cuius  faeti  admira- 
tione  non  indices  solum  graviter  commoti  sunt,  sed  ipse 
Octaviarius  exoratus  vitam  seni  concessit  atque  lihertatem. 

Observe  that  the  emphasis  of  lihertatem  is  thus  practi- 
cally the  same  as  of  vitam  with  Avliich  it  is  connected  by 
atque,  because  the  construction  is  elliptical,  and,  if  filled 
out,  would  be  atque  lihertatem  seni  concessit.  Such  an 
arrangement  is  called  Hyperhaton. 

For  convenience  of  contemplation  and  study  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil,  the  Latin  version  of  the  above  exer- 
cise is  here  repeated. 

L.atin  Version. 

Ad  Octavianum,  cum  Saini  post  Actiacain  pugnam  captives  iu 
ius  Yocari  iussisset,  inter  alios  adductus  est  senex  quidam,  Metellus 
nomine,  aetate  et  debilitate  confectus  atque  ita  barba  longa  squali- 
disque  vestimentis  deformatus  ut  ipsius  filius,  qui  forte  inter  indi- 
ces erat,  vix  eum  agnoverit.  Qui  tamen  cum  aliquando  voltum 
senis  recordatus  esset,  tantum  aberat  ut  patris  eum  puderet  ut  ad- 
cui-reret  atque  ilium  multis  cum  lacrumis  amplecteretur.  Tum  ad 
tribunal  reversus,  "  Inimicus  tuus,"  inquit,  "  Caesar,  f  uit  pater,  ego 
autem  legatus;  quare  meriti  sumus  ego  laudem,  poenam  ille.  Hoc 
igitur  tantum  a  te  peto  ut  aut  serves  ilium  mea  causa  aut  me  cum 
illo  interfici  iubeas."  Cuius  facti  admiratione  non  indices  solum 
graviter  commoti  sunt,  sed  ipse  Octavianus  exoratus  vitam  seni 
concessit  atque  libertatem. 


PART    II. 
GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS. 

I.  Do  not  use  an  Englisli-Latiii  Dictionary  unless 
absolutely  forced  to  do  so.  Sometimes,  for  instance,  it 
is  the  quickest  way  to  lind  the  name  of  an  uncommon 
animal  or  vegetable;  but  Latin  is  a  language  of  com- 
paratively poor  vocabulary,  and  the  individual  words 
coincide  nuich  less  with  individual  English  words  than 
do  those  of  almost  any  other  tongue.  Therefore,  pre- 
eminently, in  translating  from  English  into  I^atin,  ideas 
and  not  words  are  to  be  considered ;  though,  of  course, 
in  the  few  cases  where  the  exact  construction  can  be 
retained,  the  opportunity  may  be  gratefully  seized.  This 
want  of  coincidence  between  the  words  of  the  two  lan- 
guages renders  it  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
make  a  good  English-Latin  Dictionary.  It  is  better 
always  to  change  the  form  into  one  more  familiar  to 
you,  than  to  run  to  a  dictionary  in  order  to  keep  the 
English  form.  In  fact,  dictionaries  of  all  kinds  should 
be  used  as  little  as  possible,  for  tliey  have  a  tendency 
to  call  away  the  mind  from  the  spirit  of  the  Latin  and 
to  direct  the  attention  unduly  to  phrases.  Tlie  best 
possible  way  to  get  a  vocabulary  in  Latin  is  to  read 
pieces  of  classical  prose  without  translating,  e^t^n 
IN  the  isnND,  and  carefully  to  note  the  varieties  of 
ideas  expressed  by  the  Latin  words.  Accustom  your- 
self as  soon  as  possible  to  thinking  in  Latin. 

10 


GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS.  11 

II.  A  good  test  whether  your  Latin  is  in  the  Roman 
spirit  is  to  make  yourself  as  impersonal  as  possible,  and 
without  a  thought  of  the  English,  to  see  whether  you 
can  thoroughly  understand  the  Latin,  and  whether  any- 
thing in  it  would  strike  you  as  a  mild  monstrosity  if 
you  met  it  in  another  writer. 

III.  The  first  requisite  of  Latin  style  (as  of  any  other) 
is  to  say  Avhat  you  mean  clearly. 

IV.  A  love  of  simple,  direct  statement  is  one  of  the 
most  marked  characteristics  of  Latin  style. 

V.  Use  as  subjects  persons  rather  than  things  or 
clauses;  and,  on  the  same  principle,  prefer  the  active 
to  the  passive. 

VI.  Keep  the  subject  in  successive  co-ordinate  clauses 
as  much  as  possible  the  same. 

VII.  When  the  subject  must  change,  as  in  dialogue, 
indicate  at  once  that  the  change  has  been  made. 

VIII.  Keep  the  same  substantive  so  far  as  possible  in 
the  same  case  throughout  a  period. 

IX.  Translate  the  tenie,  and  not  the  tense,  of  Eng- 
lish participles  and  verb-forms  in  general.  For  instance, 
if  an  English  present  participle  really  denotes  past  time, 
it  must  be  translated  by  a  past  time  expression.  So, 
too,  the  English  present  used  for  the  future  is  future  in 
Latin ;  the  English  aorist  imperfect  is  perfect ;  and  so  on. 

X.  In  determining  the  tense  of  your  subordinate 
verbs  and  participles,  be  careful  to  make  your  standard 
of  time,  not  the  moment  at  wliich  you  are  wiiting,  nor 
the  hour  or  day  at  which  the  events  of  the  general 
narrative  took  or  will  take  place,  but  the  time  denoted 

by   THE   Y^BB   ON   WHICH   THE   SUBORDINATE   VERB   OR 
PARTICIPLE  DEPENDS. 


12  ORDER    OF   WORDS. 


ORDER  OF  WORDS. 

I.  In  expressions  consisting  of  two  words,  put  first 
the  word  which  in  English  you  would  utter  with  the 
greater  stress  of  voice.  Thus:  "a  great  poet,"  imagnus 
POETA ;  "  a  great  poet,'''  poeta  iviAGNUS ;  "  the  girl 
laughed,"   puella   risit;    "the    girl    laughed,""    risit 

PUELLA. 

II.  In  expressions  consisting  of  more  than  two  words, 
put  the  most  important  word  first,  then  consider  the 
remaining  words  by  themselves,  and  put  next  the  most 
important  of  these,  and  so  on.  Thus  if  you  are  sj^eak- 
ing  about  some  foot-soldiers  fighting  desperately,  and 
wish  to  emphasize  the  fighting  especially,  you  put 
PUGNARUNT  first,  then  you  say  acriter  pedites,  or 
PEDITES  ACRITER,  according  as  you  wish  to  make  more 
prominent  the  kind  of  people  who  fought  or  the  way 
they  fought.  Of  course,  the  Romans  did  not  have  to 
go  through  any  such  process.  They  did  not  think  out 
their  whole  sentence  fuvst  and  arrange  it  afterwards,  but 
uttered  their  words  in  the  order  required  by  the  thought 
just  as  unconsciously  as  we  do  our  English  words. 

III.  If  the  sentence  contains  phrases  which  them- 
selves consist  of  two  or  more  words,  arrange  the  sepa- 
rate words  in  such  phrases  as  directed,  and  then  treat 
the  whole  phrase  as  a  single  word,  in  relation  to  the 
other  words  of  the  sentence.  Thus:  "Caesar  —  equi- 
tatu  praemisso  —  prima  luce — ipse  —  cum  duabus  legi- 
onibus  —  prof ectus  est,"  or  "  Praemisso  equitatu  —  Caesar 
—  cum  legionibus  duabus  —  luce  prima  —  est  ipse  pro- 
fectus,"  etc.  The  same  principle  applies  to  clauses 
which  make  up  a  period. 


ORDER   OF   WORDS.  13 

rv.  In  the  arrangement  of  words,  phrases,  and  clauses, 
the  student  shoukl  also  bear  in  mind  the  periodic  con- 
struction ;  that  is  to  say,  he  should  keep  the  sentence 
obviously  incomplete  till  the  last  word,  and  not  add  one 
or  more  loosely  connected  afterthoughts.  An  oppor- 
tunity to  vary  the  monotony  of  successive  periods,  in 
wTiich  the  main  verb  is  the  last  word,  arises  whenever 
any  phrase  or  clause  is  so  related  to  the  main  verb  that 
it  can  be  foreshadowed  by  some  other  word  and  then 
left  until  after  the  main  verb;  because  this  foreshadow- 
ing in  itself  counteracts  the  tendency  of  the  main  verb 
to  complete  the  sense,  and  thus  close  the  period.  Thus 
the  object  of  an  evidently  transitive  verb,  or  a  subject 
which  must  be  expressed  for  clearness,  will  often  be  the 
last  word  of  a  period,  the  verb  standing  just  before  it. 
So,  especially,  may  clauses  of  result  be  foreshadowed  by 
words  like  adeo,  ita,  tantum,  or  clauses  of  purpose  by 
hoc  consilio,  or  the  like ;  and  then  left  till  after  the 
main  verb  without  destroying  the  periodic  arrangement. 
It  should  be  observed  that  while,  of  course,  a  slight  dif- 
ference of  emphasis  exists,  according  as  the  verb  occupies 
the  last  place  or  the  last  but  one,  the  difference  in  the 
thought  is  often  so  small  that  it  is  outweighed  by  the 
desire  for  variety  and  euphony  of  expression.  If,  how- 
ever, in  any  case,  a  real  difference  in  the  balance  of  the 
thought  is  produced,  by  advancing  the  verb  from  its 
natural  last  position,  this  must  never  be  done. 

V,  The  awkward  heaping  of  verbs  at  the  end  of  a 
period  by  putting  just  before  the  main  verb  one  or  two 
subordinate  verbs,  with  the  meritorious  design  of  having 
them  at  the  end  of  their  respective  clauses,  should  be 
carefully  avoided.  The  fault  is  frequently  caused  by 
making  too  emphatic,  and  placing  early  in  the  sentence 


14  '  ORDER   OF   WORDS. 

an  infinitive,  an  object,  or  an  adverb,  wliich  belongs  so 
closely  with  the  main  verb  that  its  proper  place  is  just 
before  that  verb. 

VI.  In  the  effort  for  periodic  structure  do  not  fall 
into  long,  overloaded,  and  therefore  obscure  sentences. 
Sift  out  some  of  the  ideas  into  short,  crisp  sentences, 
and  thus  add  the  effectiveness  of  variety  to  your  periocUc 
composition. 

VII.  The  most  emphatic  or  important  word  in  a  sen- 
tence is  often  suggested  by  the  previous  sentence.  The 
thought,  which  naturally  and  logically  comes  first  into 
the  mind  after  the  thoughts  of  that  previous  sentence, 
should,  in  its  own  sentence,  be  first  expressed.  No 
unnatural  and  mechanical  construction  of  a  sentence 
should  be  allowed,  nor  should  any  sentence  be  con- 
sidered in  isolation  from  its  neighbors,  when  we  look 
for  its  emphatic  idea. 

VIII.  Certain  rhetorical  arrangements  require  notice. 
When  the  corresponding  parts  of  two  (or  more)  phrases 
or  clauses  are  placed  in  the  same  order,  the  arrangement 
is  called  Anaphora.     Thus :  quod  si  ita  est,  eedat,  opinor, 

FORUM  CASTRIS,  OTIUM  MiLITIAE,  STILUS  GLADIO,  UM- 
BRA SOLI.  When  such  corresponding  parts  are  placed  in 
opposite  orders,  the  arrangement  is  called  Chiasmus  or 
the  Chiastic  Arrangement.    Thus :  nam  ne  sufficiatur 

CONSUL   NON  TIMENT ;    VIDENT  IN  TUORUM  POTESTATE 

CONLEGARUM  FORE.  The  rhetorical  effect  is  not  infre- 
quently heightened  by  certain  other  details  of  arrange- 
ment ;  e.g.  a  word  is  sometimes  made  very  emphatic 
indeed  by  being  placed  even  before  the  particle  which 
introduces  a  clause;  as,  IIaec  cum  Caesari  niintiata 
essent,  legatos  domum  ahire  iussit ;  or  again,  the  words  of 
a  phrase  or  other  expression  whicli  forms  a  logical  whole 


CONISTECTIVES.  15 

are  often  separated  by  the  insertion  of  one  or  more 
words ;  as,  aptissima  omnino  sunt,  Scipio  et  Laeli, 
AEMA  SENECTUTIS  artes  exercitatiouesque  virtutum.  We 
may  here  notice  some  of  those  arrangements  of  long 
and  short  syUables  referred  to  in  Part  I.  The  ca- 
dences _w_  (^podumt),  _ww  (iniliteiii),  _v/ww_^  (ac?- 
miniciddrum'),  and,  more  than  all,  _w_\^  (^pertinetur'), 
were  especial  favorites  with  Cicero,  while  the  cadence 
_v^w_w(^.e.  the  ending  of  a  Heroic  line)  was  dis- 
approved. 

Note.  —  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  none  of  the  devices 
just  treated  ever  overrides  an  emphasis  required  by  the  thought. 

IX.  Certain  expressions  acquire  a  sort  of  stereotyped 
order,  because  used  originally  with  a  particular  empha- 
sis, or  more  commonly  with  one  emphasis  than  another. 
Thus  senafus  p)opulusque  Romanus  is  an  almost  inva- 
riable order,  and  in  custodiam  dare  is,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  vastly  more  common  than  dare  in  custodiam, 
just  as  "thrown  into  prison"  is  a  much  more  frequent 
emphasis  than  "thrown  into  prison." 

CONNECTR^ES. 

I.  The  simple  co-ordinate  connective  is  et.  When 
two  words  or  expressions  are  to  be  more  closely  con- 
nected, que  is  iLsed,  and  is  attached  to  the  second  word 
or  to  the  first  word  of  the  second  expression  connected. 
Atque  or  ac\  the  latter  used  onl}-  before  consonants, 
generally  but  not  always  throw  especial  emphasis  upon 
the  second  thing. 

II.  In  a  series  of  perfectly  co-ordinate  words  or 
phrases,  put  the  connective  between  each  two,  or  omit 
it  altogether.      Write  accordingly,  3Iarcus  et  Publius  et 


16  CONNECTIVES. 

Quintus,  or  3Iarcus^  Puhlius,  Quintus.  The  latter  case 
may  be  varied  by  attaching  que  to  the  Last  member  of 
the  series,  as  urbs  magna,  valula  cUvesque. 

III.  Some  co-ordinate  clauses  which  in  English  usually 
have  a  connective,  in  Latin  regularly  omit  the  connec- 
tive, its  place  being  supplied  by  the  ai'rangement  of  the 
words ;  as,  "  the  wise  man  meets  death  calmly,  but  the 
fool  shudders  at  it,"  aequo  animo  mortem  oppetit  sapiens; 
insipiens  eam  reformidat.     This  is  called  Asyndeton. 

IV.  Distinguish  between  sed,  the  common  word  for 
opposition,  English  "but";  autem,  which  is  the  mildest 
form  of  transition ;  and  at,  which  is  between  these,  and 
often  introduces  the  supposed  objection  of  an  opponent. 

V.  "  Or,"  in  simple  phrases  or  statements,  is  aut  or 
vel;  in  double  questions  is  an;  in  conditional  clauses  is 
sive  or  seu.  Distinguish  carefully  between  aut  and  vel, 
Aut  is  used  where  the  opposition  is  between  the  things 
themselves  ;  vel,  where  there  is  a  choice  dependent  upon 
the  person  concerned.  (Cf.  its  derivation  from  velle, 
"  to  wish.") 

VI.  Many  sentences  whose  connection  in  English  is 
left  to  the  imagination  havre  really  various  relations  of 
subordination  to  each  other,  which  are  expressed  in 
Latin  by  deinde,  autem,  quidem,  vero,  igitur,  etc. 

VII.  Remember  that  qiddem,  autem,  vero,  enim,  igitur, 
interim,  quoque,  and  generally  tamen,  do  not  stand  first 
in  the  sentence. 

VIII.  "And  not,"  as  well  as  "or  not,"  in  clauses  of 
purpose  and  in  hortatory  clauses,  is  neve. 

IX.  The  Romans  had  a  general  tendency  to  combine 
the  negative  in  a  sentence  with  the  connective,  and  so 
wrote  nee,  nee  umquam,  etc.,  rather  than  et  nan,  et  num- 
quam,  etc. 


THE   RELATIVE.  17 

X.  The  relative  is  often  used  first  in  a  sentence  to  con- 
nect it  with  the  previous  sentence,  where  in  English  a 
personal  or  demonstrative  pronoun  with  a  conjunction 
is  used.  Thus:  Pericles  cives  suos  docuit  certo  tempore 
tenebras  fieri  necesse  esse  cum  tota  se  luna  sub  orbem  so- 
lem  subiecisset :  QUOD  (=  et  hoc)  cum  docuisset  popidum 
liberavit  metu. 

THE  RELATIVE. 

I.  The  Latin  —  like  the  English  —  relative  stands  at 
the  beginning  of  its  clause,  or  with  a  governing  prepo- 
sition before  it. 

II.  The  relative  cannot  be  omitted  in  Latin,  as  it  can 
in  English,  in  phrases  like  "the  book  you  are  reading." 

III.  Two  relative  clauses  referring  to  the  same  ante- 
cedent sometimes  have,  as  in  English,  the  relative 
repeated,  with  or  without  a  conjunction;  sometimes 
take  a  demonstrative  pronoun  instead  of  the  second 
relative;  as,  "Brutus  whom  Caesar  had  pardoned  and 
afterwards  treated  as  a  son,"  Brutus  cui  Caesar  ignoverat 
et  eum  postea  pro  filio  liabuerat. 

IV.  The  relative  clause  frequently  precedes  the  clause 
which  contains  its  grammatical  antecedent;  e.g.  Quaede 
animorum  inmortalitate  dicit  Cicero  ea  sunt  prof  ecto  plena 
pulchritudinis. 

V.  Do  not  forget  the  use  of  the  relative  to  connect  its 
sentence  with  the  preceding,  where  English  uses  a  per- 
sonal or  demonstrative  pronoun  with  a  conjunction  (see 
X.  above). 

VI.  While  relatives  are  very  characteristic  of  Latin 
style,  the  student  is  cautioned  against  that  excessive 
use  of  them  which  produces  a  clumsy  and  crude  looking 
paragraph. 


18  PARTICIPLES. 


PARTICIPLES. 


I.  Before  using  the  present  participle  in  Latin,  be  sure 
that  the  act  denoted  by  it  is  coincident  witli  tliat  of  the 
verb  on  wliicli  tlie  participle  depends.  Unless  this  is 
the  case,  use  a  clause  with  dum^  cum,  or  the  like. 

II.  Latin  participles  are  but  rarely  used  as  attributive 
adjectives,  and  the  idea  expressed  by  participles  so 
used  in  English  must  be  given  in  Latin  by  various 
other  constructions,  according  to  circumstances.  Among 
these  constructions,  a  relative  clause  is  particularly 
common. 

III.  Guard  especially  against  using  the  perfect  passive 
participle  for  the  English  perfect  active  participle,  —  i.e. 
do  not  translate  "  having  come  to  Rome  "  by  Romam 
adventus.  Latin  verbs,  except  deponents,  having  no 
perfect  active  participle,  must  supply  the  deficiency  by 
temporal  clauses  or  ablatives  absolute.  In  using  this 
ablative  absolute,  be  particularly  careful  about  the  voice. 

IV.  In  deponent  verbs,  however,  the  perfect  participle 
regularly  has  an  active  sense.  Sometimes  it  has  the 
force  of  a  present  participle ;  regularly  so,  ratus,  solitus, 
veritus. 

V.  The  perfect  participle,  whether  deponent  or  pas- 
sive in  meaning,  is  one  of  the  commonest  constructions 
in  Latin.  It  is  used  not  only  in  the  ablative  absolute, 
but  in  agreement  with  the  subject  or  object  of  the  verb. 
By  taking  advantage  of  it,  the  student  will  save  himself 
from  many  an  awkward  finite  verb,  and  will  give  at 
once  an  idiomatic  flavor  to  his  style. 


THE   SUBJUNCTIVE.  19 


THE   SUBJUNCTIVE. 


I.  As  a  practical  help  towards  using  the  Latin  sub- 
junctive correctly,  clauses  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes :  those  wliicli  always  take  the  subjunctive,  and 
those  which  sometimes  take  the  subjunctive  and  some- 
times the  indicative,  according  to  the  subtle  turn  which 
the  writer  wishes  to  give  to  his  thought. 

II.  The  lands  of  clauses  which  always  take  the  sub- 
junctive are : 

(rt)    Clauses  of  Purpose  ; 

(6)    Clauses  of  Result ; 

(e)    Clauses  of  Wishing; 

((?)   Indirect  Questions; 

(e)    Subordinate  Clauses  of  Indirect  Discourse  ; 

(/)   Clauses  of  Condition  contrary  to  fact ; 

((/)  Clauses  with  the  particles  of  comparison  quasi^ 
velut  si,  etc. ; 

(A)  Clauses  of  Command,  Exhortation,  Entreaty,  and 
Prohibition  (except  where,  as  in  English,  a  second  person 
imperative  can  be  used). 

(i)     Potential  Sentences  and  Dubitative  Questions. 

(A-)    Clauses  of  Proviso  with  dian,  modo,  dummodo. 

III.  The  kinds  of  clauses  which  take  sometimes  the 
indicative,  sometimes  the  subjunctive,  are : 

(rt)  Relative  Clauses  (not  denoting  purpose  or  re- 
sult) ; 

(?')  Conditional  Clauses  not  contrary  to  fact ; 

(6")  Concessive  Clauses ; 

(t7)  Temporal  Clauses ; 

(e)  Causal  Clauses. 


20  THE   SUBJUNCTIVE. 

IV.  With  relative  clauses  the  subjunctive  character- 
izes a  class,  and  indicates  that  the  thing  said  applies  to 
the  antecedent  as  a  member  of  such  a  class,  —  i.e.  is  qui 
dieat  means  "  a  man  who  says,"  "  any  man  who  should 
say,"  etc.;  while  is  qui  dicit  means  '•'•the  man  who  as  a 
fact  does  say." 

V.  So  in  clauses  of  time  with  the  relative  cum,  the 
subjunctive  characterizes  a  time  such  that  at  it  some- 
thing takes  place,  took  place,  or  is  likely  to  take  place ; 
while  the  incUcative  marks  as  a  date  the  time  of  an  occur- 
rence told  in  the  main  clause.  In  the  secondary  tenses 
the  Romans  preferred  to  characterize  the  time,  —  i.e.  to 
use  the  subjunctive,  —  where  we  should  often  not  do  so. 

VI.  In  conditional  clauses,  and  in  concessive  clauses 
with  si,  etsi,  etiamsi,  the  subjunctive  practically  serves 
simply  to  put  the  case  more  mildly  as  an  argument, 
as  when  we  say  "  would "  and  ''  should,"  rather  than 
"  is,"  or  "  will  be  "  and  "  shall  be." 

VII.  In  concessive  clauses  with  quamquam  the  indic- 
ative is  the  classical  mood ;  with  licet.,  ut,  quamvis,  and 
cum,  the  subjunctive  is  used,  because  such  clauses  are 
developments  from  regvdar  subjunctive  ideas. 

VIII.  In  temporal  clauses  with  dum,  antequam,  and 
priusquam,  the  indicative,  as  with  cum,  simply  dates 
the  occurrence;  the  subjunctive  indicates  an  influence 
exerted  by  the  act  of  its  clause  upon  the  main  clause, 
often  liinting  at  the  purpose  for  which  the  main  act  was 
done,  or  at  something  which  the  main  act  was  designed 
to  prevent.  ITbi,  postquam,  ut,  simul  ac  are  used  almost 
exclusively  to  date  occurrences,  and  therefore  take  the 
indicative. 

IX.  In  cavisal  clauses  with  quod  (or  quia)  the  sub- 
junctive is  really  a  subjunctive  of  indirect  discourse ; 


LNDIKECT   DISCOURSE.  21 

i.e.  the  reason  is  given  as  one  assigned  by  or  influencing 
somebody  other  than  the  speaker,  —  or  the  speaker 
viewed  by  liimself  as  if  he  were  some  one  else,  —  most 
commonly  the  subject  of  the  main  clause. 

X.  On  this  same  principle  of  indirect  discoui^e,  a  verb 
is  sometimes  put  in  the  subjunctive,  because  the  idea 
expressed  by  it  is  looked  at  merely  as  part  of  the 
thought  expressed  by  a  subjunctive  (or  infinitive)  clause 
on  which  it  depends. 


INDIRECT   DISCOURSE. 

I.  Observe  that  the  tense  of  the  infinitive  in  indirect 
discourse  is  perfect,  present  or  future,  according  as  you 
mean  that  the  thing  has  happened  before  the  words  were 
said  or  thought,  —  or  is  happening  at  the  tiine  of  speak- 
ing or  thinking,  —  or  is  yet  to  come. 

II.  The  tenses  of  the  subjunctive  are  secondary  or 
primar}^,  according  as  you  conceive  the  thoughts  to  be 
past  or  not  past. 

III.  Se  and  suus.,  in  inchrect  discoui-se,  regularly  refer 
to  the  speaker  or  the  thinker,  but  may  refer  to  other 
persons  if  no  ambiguity  arises  therefrom ;  ilium  is  com- 
monly used  of  the  person  addressed. 

IV.  Contrary-to-fact  conditions  require  special  notice, 
because  of  the  danger  of  ambiguity  in  inchrect  discourse. 
For  instance,  the  two  sentences,  Si  Momae  fuit,  Caesarem 
vidit,  and  Si  Momae  fuisset  Caesarem  vidisset,  would  both 
after  dixit  be  [Dixitl  si  Momae  fuisset  Caesarem  vidisse. 
To  avoid  tliis  ambiguity,  the  Romans  WTote  for  the 
contrary-to-fact  condition  Dixit  si  Momae  fuisset  se  Cae- 
sarem  visurum  fuisse. 


22  CHOICE   OP  WORDS   ANT>  EXPRESSIONS. 

V.  There  being  no  future  or  future  perfect  subjunc- 
tive, the  nearest  tense  must  do  duty  for  them  in  indirect 
discourse.  Thus  the  pluperfect,  when  the  point  of  view 
is  secondary,  often  stands  for  a  future  perfect.  If,  how- 
ever, it  is  important  to  bring  out  the  future  notion 
sharply,  the  future  participle  with  esse  (e.g.  facturus  sit 
or  esset)  must  be  used. 


CHOICE   OF   WORDS   AND   EXPRESSIOXS. 

I.  Do  not  aim  at  the  extraordinary  in  words  or  con- 
structions, but  between  two  expressions,  one  of  which 
is  common,  the  other  used  once  by  Cicero  or  Caesar, 
always  chose  the  common  one. 

II.  While  it  is  a  hindrance  to  style  to  label  particular 
Latin  words  with  the  meanings  of  particular  English 
words,  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  great  help  to  fix  in  the 
mind,  and  have  ready  to  order,  various  favorite  Latin 
expressions,  or  single  words  and  turns  of  thought,  such 
as  constat,  the  perfect  participle  of  deponent  verbs,  etc. 

III.  Remember  that  Latin  has  a  fancy  for  verbal  con- 
structions rather  than  nouns,  and  that  abstract  nouns, 
except  in  phil()so[)lii(*al  writings,  are  to  be  often  trans- 
formed. For  instance,  "the  subject  of  discussion"  is 
in  Latin  id  de  quo  agitur.  Yet  we  should  notice  that 
there  is  a  difference  in  abstract  notions.  Simple  ones 
like  "joy"  and  "freedom"  are  common.  More  subtle 
ones  are  much  less  developed  in  Latin  tlian  in  English 
(cf.  "  ostentation  "). 

IV.  Do  not  be  deceived  by  the  eni})ty  appearance  of 
likeness  between  certain  Latin  Avords  and  the  English 
words  derived  from  them.      Latin  has  passed  through 


CHOICE   OF   WORDS    AND   EXPRESSIONS.  23 

many  changes,  and  as  the  English  words  were  formed 
long  after  classical  times,  the  words  from  which  they 
were  derived  may  in  classical  times  either  have  had 
different  meanings  or  not  have  existed  at  all. 

V.  Be  especially  on  your  guard  against  mistakes  aris- 
ing from  the  fact  that  Latin  words,  though  used  in  soine^ 
are  not  used  in  all,  the  meanings  of  their  English  deriv- 
atives. An  example  is  considero,  wliich  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  "  observe,"  "•  reflect  upon,"  etc.,  but  not  in  the 
sense  of  "  estimate,"  or  "  judge  to  be  so  and  so." 

VI.  Pay  careful  attention  to  synonyms  used  in  com- 
binations, Avhen  if  used  separately  they  would  not  have 
to  be  so  sharply  distinguished;  for  example,  when  pu- 
eritia  and  adulescentia  are  used  together,  the}'  mark  two 
definite  periods  of  life,  although  either  used  separately 
may  roughly  designate  either  age. 

VII.  English  "  as "  must  be  translated  variously, 
according  to  the  relation  it  expresses ;  for  it  may  intro- 
duce a  reason,  an  appositive,  a  relative  clause,  or  a 
clause  of  almost  any  kind. 

VIII.  A  special  instance  of  confusion,  caused  by  trans- 
lating words  instead  of  ideas,  is  where  Latin  distin- 
guishes shades  of  meaning  unknown  to  English ;  as, 
hostis,  "public,"  inimicus,  "private,"  enemy. 

IX.  A  still  more  cUsastroiis  instance  is  where  single 
English  words  express  shades  of  meaning  wliich  in  Latin 
are  implied  in  the  context,  in  case  no  ambiguity  can 
arise.  For  instance,  "society,"  "association,"  "partner- 
ship," "  alliance "  give  shades  of  meaning  wliich  in 
Latin  the  one  word  societas  will  ordinarily  express.  If, 
however,  there  is  real  danger  of  ambiguity,  the  distinct 
meaning  must  be  brought  out  by  amplification ;  as, 
societas  etfoedus  foe  "alliance." 


24  PRONOUNS. 

X.  In  dealing-  with  metaphors,  conventional  plurases, 
etc.,  be  particularly  careful  to  translate  the  thouglit, 
not  the  word,  and  avoid  needless  synonyms  and  repe- 
titions. 

XI.  Bear  in  mind  the  etymological  meaning  of  words 
like  redundare,  and  thus  avoid  mixing  metaphors. 

XII.  A  brilliant  instance  of  the  Roman  fondness  for 
the  simple  is  the  use  of  res,  ratio,  etc.,  with  such  mani- 
fold shades  of  meaning.  Mcs  is  "  a  blank  cheque,  so  to 
say,  to  be  filled  up  from  the  context  to  the  requisite 
amount  of  meaning." 

XIII.  So,  among  verbs,  esse  is  frequently  used  where 
we  use  a  more  expressive  word :  for  instance,  "  War  was 
going  on  between  the  Sabines  and  Romans  " ;  in  Latin, 
Inter  Sabinos  Roma7iosque  helium  erat. 

XIV.  Avoid  double  terms  to  express  single  ideas,  as 
is  done  in  English  by  "  a  feeling  of  shame,"  "  a  sense  of 
duty."  In  Latin,  the  single  words,  pudor,  officium,  are 
generally  sufficient. 

XV.  Where  in  English  one  part  of  a  compound  idea 
is  made  to  depend  upon  the  other,  especially  as  an  ad- 
jective or  genitive,  the  Romans,  by  a  different  habit  of 
tliought,  often  combined  two  nouns  on  an  even  footing. 
The  Latin  construction  is  called  Hendiadys,  and  an  ex- 
ample is  religio  metusque  for  "  superstitious  fear." 


PRONOUNS. 

I.  When  using  a  demonstrative  to  foreshadow  a  state- 
ment or  quotation,  if  that  statement  be  emphatii;  in 
contrast  to  others,  use  ille  (especially  illud} ;  otherwise, 
hie  and  hoc. 


PRONOUNS.  25 

11.  Note  that  the  Romans  emphasized  persons  more 
than  we  do  ;  therefore,  do  not  be  surprised  at  finding 
demonstratives  especially  early  in  their  clauses. 

III.  Idem  and  ipse  are  often  used  agreeing  with  the 
subject,  where  in  English  occur  expressions  like  "all 
the  same,"  "at  once,"  "again"  {idevi)^  or  "very,"  "the 
fact  of  "  (ipse). 

IV.  Observe  that  ipse  almost  always  agrees  with  the 
subject,  even  when  the  emphasis  seems  to  be  on  the 
object.     Thus  :  "  he  kills  himself,"  ipse  se  interjicit. 

V.  Remember  that  se  and  suus  as  a  rule  refer  to  the 
grammatical  subject  of  the  clause  in  which  they  stand ; 
but  when  no  ambiguity  can  arise  they  refer  to  the  real 
subject  of  thought,  though  this  be  different  from  the 
grammatical  subject.  If  they  stand  in  a  dependent 
sentence,  whose  subject  is  insignificant  compared  with 
the  subject  of  the  principal  sentence,  they  refer  to  the 
latter.  Otherwise  the  word  for  "self,"  "own,"  referring 
in  a  subordinate  sentence  to  the  subject  of  the  principal 
sentence,  is  ipse.  In  two  closely  connected  co-ordinate 
sentences  ipse  is  similarly  used ;  as,  "  Ceesar  was  absent, 
but  his  own  lieutenant  led  the  line,"  Caesar  aherat  sed 
ipsius  legatus  aciem  duxif. 

VI.  The  Latin  frequently  uses  the  personal  pronoun 
of  the  fii'st  person  in  the  plural  nos  for  the  singular 
ego^  but  never  the  second  plui-al  vos  for  the  singular 
tu,  as  "  you  "  is  used  in  English  instead  of  "  thou." 

VII.  Of  the  double  forms  of  the  genitive  plural  of  the 
personal  pronouns  the  form  in  urn.  is  partitive,  the  form 
in  i  used  for  other  relations.  Thus :  cpiis  vestrum  memi- 
nit  nostri,  "  what  one  of  you  remembers  me  ?  " 

VIII.  Do  not  confuse  alter.,  "  the  other,"  used  where 
two  persons  or  things  are  spoken  of,  alius,  "  another," 


26  PRONOUNS. 

where  more  than  two  are  spoken  ui',  antl  ceteri  or  reliqui, 
"all  others,"  "the  rest."  Alterius  is,  however,  gener- 
ally used  for  the  genitive  of  alius. 

IX.  So  do  not  confuse  uterque,  "each,"  of  two,  with 
quisque,  "  each,"  "  every,"  of  more  than  two.  Omnis  is 
sometimes  used  in  the  singular  nearly  in  the  sense  of 
quisque,  but  is  more  indefinite. 

X.  The  distinction  just  mentioned  in  regard  to  the 
number  referred  to  holds  also  between  the  interrogatives 
liter,  "  which,"  of  two,  and  quis,  "  whicli,"  of  several. 

XI.  Of  the  indefinite  pronouns,  quidam  is  most 
definite,  nonnuUus,  nonnemo,  nonnihil  next,  then  quis- 
piam,  and  aliqids,  while  quisquam  is  the  weakest  of  all. 
Remember  that  the  form  quis  is  used  for  aliqids,  after  si, 
nisi,  ne,  num.  Quivis  and  quilihet  are  universals,  and 
the  second  part  of  these  compounds  may  be  affected  by 
indirect  discourse.  Instead  of  non  quisquam,  non  ullus, 
non  quidquam,  non  uter,  use  respectively  nemo,  nulliis, 
nihil,  neuter.  Compare  among  verbs  nego  for  dico  .  .  . 
non. 

XII.  Nemo  and  quisquam  are  substantive  pronouns ; 
nullus  and  ullus  the  corresponding  adjective  pronouns ; 
but  instead  of  the  genitives  of  nemo  and  quisquam,  nnl- 
lius  and  ullius  are  used.  Quisquayn  and  ullus  are  used 
in  negative  sentences,  or  sentences  implying  a  negative, 
where  in  positive  sentences  aliquis,  quispiam,  or  non- 
mdlus  is  used. 

XIII.  The  words  of  indefinite  number  run  from  few 
to  many  in  about  the  following  order :  perpauci,  pauci, 
aliquot,  nonmdli,  plures,  multi,  plurimi,  plerique. 


CERTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  27 

CERTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS. 

I.  Ablative  Absolute.  —  Do  not  iise  this  construction 
when  the  noun  in  it  must  be  repeated  as  subject  or 
object  of  the  sentence.  Tlie  participle  can  be  more 
simply  attached  at  once  to  that  subject  or  object. 

II.  Adjective  Connections.  —  If  you  use  two  adjec- 
tives with  one  noun  be  sure  to  connect  them  by  a  con- 
junction. Thus  :  —  "•  many  great  battles,"  multae  et 
■magnae  pugnae- 

III.  Adjectives  for  Adverbs.  —  An  adjective  is  some- 
times used  in  Latin  to  indicate  the  feeling  with  which  a 
person  does  something,  or  the  order  in  which  something 
happens  to  him  or  is  done  by  him,  when  in  English  an 
adverb  of  manner  or  order  is  used,  as  hoc  invitus  feci, 
primi  in  urbem  ruimus. 

IV.  Agent  and  Means.  —  Distinguish  carefully  be- 
tween the  voluntary  agent  (ablative  with  ab,  a'),  the 
involuntary  agent,  person  treated  as  means  (accusative 
with  jpgr),  and  the  means  (ablative  alone). 

V.  Case  Change  in  Objects.  —  Remember  that  with 
two  or  more  verbs  taking  objects  in  different  cases,  pro- 
nouns must  be  used  to  refer  to  all  the  objects  except 
the  first ;  as,  "  Cffisar  pardoned  Brutus  and  sent  him 
to  Sicily,"  Caesar  Bruto  ignovit  atque  eiim  in  Siciliam 
misit. 

VI.  Commands,  etc.  —  Commands  in  the  second  person 
are  expressed  by  the  imperative  ;  prohibitions  to  a  par- 
ticular person  by  tioli  with  the  infinitive,  by  cave  with  a 
subjunctive,  or  by  ne  with  the  perfect  subjunctive. 

VII.  Comparison  Clauses  with  Quam.  —  Clauses  of 
comparison  after  quam  may  take  the  same  construction 
that  went  before,  or   may  be  put  in  the  subjunctive, 


28  CERTAIN   SrECIAL   SUGGESTIONS. 

with  or  without  ut.     The  same  thing  is  true  of  clauses 
with  nisi. 

VIII.  Comparatives  without  Quam.  —  Remember  that 
comparatives  are  used  without  quam  only  when  the  first 
of  the  things  compared  is  in  the  nominative  or  accusa- 
tive. 

IX.  Cum  Enclitic.  —  Do  not  forget  that  with  personal 
and  relative  pronouns  the  preposition  cum  is  attached 
enclitically ;  as,  sgcitm,  quocum. 

X.  Dates.  —  Officially  the  year  was  expressed  in  Latin 
by  naming  the  consuls.  For  otlier  purposes  the  date 
from  the  founding  of  the  city  given  in  ordinal  numbers 
might  be  used,  the  Romans  not  having  the  gift  of 
prophecy  necessary  to  say  B.C. 

XI.  Dative  Retained.  —  Do  not  change  an  object  in 
the  dative  into  the  subject  of  a  passive  verb.  Such 
verbs  can  only  be  used  impersonally  in  the  passive,  and 
retain  the  dative ;  as,  "  Cicero  was  persuaded,"  Ciceroni 
persuasum  est. 

XII.  Etiam  and  Quoque.  —  Of  the  two  WOrds  for 
"  also,"  "  even,"  etimn  generally  comes  before,  quoque 
after,  the  word  it  emphasizes. 

XIII.  Exclamatory  Infinitive.  —  The  infinitive  may  be 
used  to  express  surprise,  sometimes  alone,  but  perhaps 
oftener  with  the  interrogative  enclitic  ne  ;  as,  "  to  think 
that  Brutus  should  have  done  so,"  Brutumne  itafecisse. 

XIV.  Gerundive  Idiom.  —  Do  not  forget  the  use  of 
the  gerundive  construction  in  place  of  verbal  or  abstract 
nouns ;  as  difficultates  belli  gerendi  "  difficulties  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war." 

XV.  Gerundive  of  utor,  etc.  —  Remember  that  the 
gerundive  construction,  not  the  gerund,  is  regularly 
used  in  verbs  which  govern  the  ablative  or  dative,  but 


CERTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  29 

did  once  take  the  accusative,  like  utor,  fruor^  medeor ; 
as,  ad  vitam  fruendam. 

XVI.  Gerundive  with  Ablative  Absolute,  etc.  —  Re- 
member that  the  perfect  passive  participle  refers  to  past 
time,  and  when  you  need  a  participle  to  picture  a  future 
situation,  or  a  present  situation  with  a  tendency  to  the 
future,  the  gerundive  is  to  be  used.  This  distinction 
applies  particularly  to  the  ablative  absolute. 

XVII.  lam  and  Nunc.  —  Nunc  (now,  at  present)  looks 
at  the  iDresent  moment  in  itself;  iam  (now,  already) 
looks  at  it  as  a  point  in  a  series. 

XVIII.  Indefinite  Article  (English).  —  The  indefinite 
article,  if  unemphatic,  is  not  expressed  in  Latin ;  if 
emphatic,  is  represented  by  quidam^  aliquis,  or  ^s,  ac- 
cording to  the  strength  of  emphasis. 

XIX.  Letter  Addresses.  —  In  letter-writing  the  Ro- 
mans combined  the  address  at  the  beginning  and  the 
signature  into  the  formula  (X)  suo  (Y)  S.  D.  =  salutem 
dicit,  and  placed  this  expression  at  the  head  of  the 
epistle.  The  date  is  either  omitted,  or  placed  at  the 
end,  or  casually  mentioned  as  a  part  of  the  letter  itself. 

XX.  Locative  Apposition.  —  A  lioun  in  apposition 
with  a  locative  is  put  in  the  ablative,  and  usually  takes 
a  preposition ;  as,  "  Cicero  was  born  at  Arpinum,  a  small 
tOAvn  in  Latium,"  Cicero  Arpini  parvo  in  oppido  Lati 
natiis  est.  So,  too,  a  common  noun  in  apposition  with 
an  accusative  of  the  limit  of  motion  must  have  a  prepo- 
sition. 

XXI.  "  Might,"  "  Could,"  etc.  —  Distinguish  between 
"■  might,"  "  could,"  etc.,  used  as  auxiliaries  in  potential 
clauses,  and  the  same  words  used  as  the  imperfects  of 
"may,"  "can,"  etc.  The  first  sense  is  expressed  in 
Latin  by  the  mood,  the  last  sense  by  possum  and  certain 


30  CEKTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS. 

impersonals  like  licet^  etc.  So,  also,  do  not  confuse 
"  would,"  when  a  conditional,  with  "  would  *'  used  as 
the  historical  tense  of  the  future  "  will."  Notice,  too, 
that  while  the  mutilated  state  of  English  verbs  requires 
the  use  of  phrases  like  "  might  have  done,"  the  Latin 
puts  more  logically  the  infinitive  in  the  present,  and  the 
main  verb  in  the  past.     Thus  :  — facere  'potidt. 

XXII.  Mille  and  Milia.  —  Mille  is  singular  and  inde- 
clinable, and  generally  used  as  an  adjective ;  milia  is  a 
plural  substantive  followed  by  the  genitive,  and  is  de- 
clinable. Thus: — mille  hoves,  hvit  usque  ad  tria  milia 
hominum. 

XXIII.  Ne  or  Non  ?  —  The  nesfative  used  with  im- 
peratives  and  with  final,  hortatory,  and  optative  clauses, 
is  ne  ;  with  all  other  clauses,  non. 

XXIV.  Nescio  quis.  —  Observe  that  nescio  quis  is 
practically  an  indefinite  pronoun,  and  has  no  effect  upon 
the  mood  of  the  following  verb. 

XXV.  Numerals  (Compound).  —  Compound  numerals 
are  used  in  the  same  way  in  Latin  as  in  English.  When 
the  greater  number  precedes,  the  connective  is  omitted, 
except  in  numbers  above  one  hundred,  where  it  may  be 
used  or  omitted  as  one  pleases.  When  the  smaller 
number  precedes,  the  connective  is  inserted  —  vi<jinti 
quinque  or  quinque  et  vir/inti. 

XXVI.  Numerals  (Distributive).  —  Distributive  nu- 
merals ordinarily  mean  so  many  apiece,  but  when  they 
are  used  with  numeral  adverbs,  ter  dem.,  vicies  centena^ 
or  with  plurals  which  either  have  no  singular  or  have  a 
different  meaning  in  the  singular,  they  have  the  mean- 
ing of  connnon  numerals ;  as,  Una  eastra,  "  two  camps." 

XXVII.  "Ought,"  "Must,"  etc. — Distinguish  between 
oportet  and  debere  which  denote  a  duty  or  moral  obliga- 


CERTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  31 

tion,  necesse  est  and  non  posse  quin  which  denote  a 
physical  necessity  or  something  unavoidable,  and  deeet 
which  is  milder  and  denotes  a  matter  of  propriety.  The 
gerundive  with  esse  (e.  g.  faciendum  esse')  may  be  used 
of  either  physical  or  moral  necessity. 

XXVIII.  Passive  of  Things.  —  Avoid  making  a  thing 
without  life  the  subject  of  a  verb  expressing  activity. 

XXIX.  Personal  Construction.  —  Instead  of  such  ex- 
pressions as  "  it  is  said  that  Scipio  was  a  great  general," 
the  Romans,  preferring  a  personal  to  an  impersonal  con- 
struction said,  "  Scipio  is  said  to  have  been,"  etc. 

XXX.  Plural  for  Singular.  —  In  phrases  like  "it  de- 
lights the  eye,"  "  the  immortality  of  the  soul,"  "  man," 
used  for  "  mankind,"  the  Latin  requires  the  plural ;  as, 
for  the  second  example,  animoruvi  inmortalitas. 

XXXI.  Postpositive  "Words  Distinguished.  —  Do  not 
confuse  the  following  words  :  — 

quoque,  "  also,"  simply  adding  something  new. 

tamen,  which  opposes  something  to  what  has  been  said  and 
means  "yet,"  "however." 

vero,  which  opposes  a  real  case  to  a  preceding  supposed  one, 
and  means  "but,"  "in  fact." 

quidem,  which  merely  emphasizes  the  word  before  it  or  the 
clause  in  wJiich  it  stands  second. 

autem,  which  adds  to  what  has  been  said  something  in  a 
slightly  diffei-ent  line,  where  we  use  sometimes  "but,"  some- 
times "  however,"  sometimes  "  and,"  or  a  parenthetical  "  now." 

igitur,  which  suggests  a  reason  or  inference  more  mildly  than 
itaque. 

enim,  which  gives  a  reason  less  forcibly  than  nam. 

XXXII.  Preposition  Phrases.  —  A  conspicuous  case  of 
the  necessity  of  considering  the  thought,  rather  than 
the  words,  is  furnished  by  English  preposition  phrases. 
For  instance,  "  by  the  town  "  is  praeter  oppidum  ;  "  by 


32  CERTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS. 

stratagem  "  is  simply  dolo  ;  "  by  tens  "  is  deni ;  "  by  bis 
lieutenant "  is  per  legatum^  or  a  legato. 

XXXIII.  Preposition  Repeated.  — The  preposition  must 
be  repeated  with  several  nouns,  unless  they  form  one 
idea ;  and,  conversely,  two  j)repositions  cannot  often  be 
used  with  one  noun. 

XXXIV.  Present  Passive  (English).  —  The  real  Eng- 
lish present  passive  is  translated  by  the  Latin  present 
passive  because  it  represents  an  action  as  going  on.  The 
apparently  similar  form  in  which  the  participle  really 
has  an  adjective  force,  for  instance,  "  The  city  is  forti- 
fied," represents  a  completed  action,  and  must  be  trans- 
lated by  the  perfect  passive  in  Latin. 

XXXV.  Proper  Names,  etc.  —  Avoid  the  repetition  of 
proper  names  as  much  as  possible,  and  of  general  ex- 
pressions representing  persons,  like  "  the  good  consul," 
"the  adventurer,"  etc.  Use  pronouns  instead,  and  if 
your  pronouns  do  not  seem  to  refer  easily  and  naturally 
be  sure  that  the  tliought  is  not  arranged  in  Roman 
fashion,  and  try  it  again. 

XXXVI.  Purpose.  —  The  most  general  way  of  express- 
ing purpose  is  by  ut  or  ne  with  the  subjunctive ;  but,  if 
the  purpose  is  connected  with  some  particular  word,  the 
relative  is  to  be  used.  This  is  also  true  of  result  except 
that  vt  7ion  is  used  instead  of  ne.  The  gerund  and 
gerundive  of  purpose  are  used  in  short  expressions, 
where  their  literal  translations  would  be,  if  not  ap- 
proved, yet  intelligible  in  English.  With  verbs  of 
motion,  the  supine  in  iim  is  the  favorite  construction, 
and  with  comparatives,  quo  is  used  rather  than  ut. 

XXXVII.  Recordor,  etc.  —  Keep  well  in  mind  certain 
prominent  exceptions  to  well-known  rules  -,  for  instance, 
recordor  and  miseror  with  the  accusative  where  you  had 


CERTAIN    SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  33 

expected  the  genitive,  iuheo  and  veto  with  the  infinitive, 
where  you  had  expected  the  subjunctive,  iuvo  with  the 
accusative  where  you  had  expected  the  dative. 

XXXVIII.  Substantive  Clauses.  —  Substantive  clauses, 
or  chxuses  equivalent  to  nouns,  have  four  forms,  accord- 
ing to  the  shape  in  which  the  thought  they  represent 
would  most  naturally  occur  to  the  mind  in  independent 
form.  If  the  thought  would  appear  as  a  statement,  the 
substantive  clause  is  practically  indirect  discourse,  and 
is  expressed  by  the  accusative  and  infinitive ;  if,  as  a 
question,  the  subjunctive  of  indirect  question  is  used ; 
if,  as  a  command  or  result,  the  subjunctive  with  ut  must 
be  employed ;  if,  as  a  simple  fact,  quod  with  the  indica- 
tive is  the  special  form  of  substantive  clause  to  be  pre- 
ferred. 

XXXIX.  Substantive  Connections.  —  Remember  that 
the  relation  between  two  substantives  is  regularly  ex- 
pressed by  putting  one  of  them  in  the  genitive,  depend- 
ing upon  the  other,  and  do  not  try  to  express  this 
relation  by  prepositions,  thus  making  them  a  sort  of 
conjunction.  For  instance,  "  a  town  in  Greece "  is 
oppidum  G-raeciae^  not  in  Grraecta. 

XL.  Tense  Affinities.  —  Though,  as  has  been  said,  it  is 
rarely  true  of  moods,  it  is  true  of  tenses  that  certain 
words  have  an  affinity  for  certain  tenses ;  namely  dum 
for  the  present,  ubi  and  postquam  for  the  perfect; 
though,  if  it  is  important  to  mark  a  particular  time,  the 
general  preference  must  be  cheerfully  resigned. 

XLI.  "  That  of,"  "  The  One,"  etc.  —  In  comparisons 
where  English  vises  plirases  like  "  the  one,"  "  that  of," 
Latin  simply  omits  all  such  phrases.  "  The  courage  of 
Scipio  was  greater  than  that  of  Metellus,"  is  Scijyionis 
virtus  maior  erat  qiiam  3Ietelli. 


34  CERTAIN   SPECIAL   SUGGESTIONS. 

XLII.  Time  of  Day  and  Night.  —  The  time  of  day  was 
counted  by  twelve  hours,  beginning  with  sunrise;  tlie 
time  of  night  by  four  watches,  beginning  with  sunset. 

XLIII.    Verbs  Compounded  with  Ad,  Ante,  Com-,  etc. 

Be  watchful  over  verbs  compounded  with  ad,  ante,  com-, 
in,  inter,  oh,  post  prae,  sub,  super.  Wlien  they  have  a 
really  transitive  force,  and  so  require  a  direct  object, 
they  take  it  in  the  accusative.  Some  of  them  take  the 
accusative  in  one  sense,  the  dative  in  another;  as. 

With  Acc.  With  Bat. 

consulere  to  ask  advice  of  to  take  thonglit  for 

prospicere  to  foresee  to  provide  for 

XLIV.  "  Yes  "  and  "  No."  —  Tn  answers  to  direct  ques- 
tions, instead  of  searching  for  a  word  for  "  yes "  or 
"  no,"  remember  that  the  Roman  habit  was  to  repeat  the 
emphatic  word  of  the  question,  with  or  without  non. 
For  instance,  "Have  you  seen  him?  Yes,"  Vidistine 
illmn  F  Vidi.  Yet,  occasionally,  etiam  was  used  for 
"  yes,"  and  7ion  alone  for  "  no." 


PART      III. 
EXERCISES. 

1.  The  Latins  founded  a  colony  on  the  Tiber  to  guard  the 
river  against  the  Etruscans  of  whom  they  were  afraid.  This 
colony  was  called  Rome,  and  as  it  was  founded  uj)on  the  great 
river  of  that  part  of  Italy,  it  soon  became  of  importance  for 
trade,  as  well  as  for  keeping  off  the  Etruscans.  I^ow  this  is 
all  we  can  really  know  about  the  founding  of  Rome,  but  the 
Romans  themselves  tell  this  story  about  it.  A  wicked  king 
called  Amulius  ruled  in  Alba  Longa.  He  had  robbed  his 
elder  brother  of  the  kingdom,  and  put  his  sons  to  death, 
but  a  daughter  of  his  had  twin  sous  whose  father  was  the 
god  Mars.  Amulius  ordered  them  to  be  thrown  into  the 
river  Tiber;  but  they  floated  down  the  stream  till  they 
stuck  near  the  place  where  Rome  was  afterwards  built. 
They  were  fed  first  by  a  she-wolf,  and  afterwards  were 
found  and  brought  up  by  a  shepherd.  When  they  had 
grown  up  they  were  made  known  to  their  grandfather,  whom 
they  restored  to  his  throne  after  slaying  the  wicked  Amu- 
lius. Then  tlie  youths,  whose  names  were  Romulus  and 
Remus,  determined  to  build  a  city  on  the  Tiber.  They 
quarrelled  whose  city  it  should  be,  and  Remus  was  killed 
in  the  quarrel.  So  Romulus  built  the  city,  and  called  it 
Rome  after  his  own  name,  and  was  its  first  king,  and 
made  his  city  great  in  war.  He  was  taken  up  to  heaven  by 
his  father  Mars,  and  was  worshipped  by  the  Romans  as  a 
god.  —  Creighton's  Rome. 

2.  When  all  was  ready,  Lucius  waited  for  the  season  of 
the  harvest,  when  the  commons  who  loved  the  king  were 
in  the  fields  getting  in  their  corn.     Then  he  went  suddenly 

35 


56  EXEECISES. 

to  the  forum  with  a  band  of  armed  men,  and  seated  himself  on 
the  king's  throne  before  the  doors  of  the  senate-house,  where 
he  was  wont  to  judge  the  people.  And  they  ran  to  the  king 
and  told  him  that  Lucius  was  sitting  on  his  throne.  Upon 
this  the  old  man  went  in  haste  to  the  forum,  and  when  he 
saw  Lucius  he  asked  him  wherefore  he  had  dared  to  sit  on 
the  king's  seat.  And  Lucius  answered  that  it  was  his 
father's  throne  and  that  he  had  more  right  in  it  than  Servius. 
Then  he  seized  the  old  man  and  threw  him  down  the  steps 
of  the  senate-house  to  the  ground,  and  he  went  into  the 
senate-house  and  called  together  the  senators,  as  if  he  were 
already  king.  Servius  meanwhile  arose  and  began  to  make 
his  way  home  to  his  house ;  but  when  he  was  come  near  to 
the  Esquiline  Hill,  sonic  whom  Lucius  had  sent  after  him 
overtook  him  and  slew  him  and  left  him  in  his  l)lood  in  the 
middle  of  the  way.  Then  Tullia  movmted  her  chariot,  and 
drove  into  the  forum,  and  called  Lucius  out  of  the  senate- 
house,  and  saluted  him  as  king.  But  he  bade  her  go  home  ; 
and  as  she  was  going  home  the  body  of  her  father  was  lying 
in  the  way.  The  driver  of  the  chariot  stopped  and  showed 
to  Tullia  where  her  father  lay  in  his  blood.  But  she  bade 
him  drive  on,  and  so  went  to  her  home  with  her  father's 
blood  upon  the  wheels  of  her  chariot.  —  Arnold's  Rome. 

3.  There  was  a  wooden  bridge  over  the  Tiber  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  hill,  and  the  Etruscans  followed  close  upon  the 
Romans  to  win  the  bridge,  but  a  single  man,  named  Hora- 
tius  Codes,  stood  fast  upon  the  bridge  and  faced  the  Etrus- 
cans ;  two  others  then  resolved  to  stay  with  him,  Spurius 
Lartius  and  Titus  Herminius  ;  and  these  three  men  stopped 
the  Etruscans,  while  the  Romans,  avIio  had  fled  over  the 
river,  were  busy  in  cutting  away  the  bridge.  When  it  was 
all  nearly  cut  away,  Horatius  made  his  two  companions 
leave  him  and  pass  over  the  bridge  into  the  city.  Then  he 
stood  alone  on  the  bridge  and  defied  all  the  army  of  the 
Etruscans ;  and  they  showered  their  javelins  upon  him,  and 


EXERCISES.  37 

he  caught  them  on  his  shield  and  stood  yet  unhurt.  But 
just  as  they  were  rushing  on  him  to  drive  him  from  his 
post  by  main  force,  the  last  beams  of  the  bridge  were  cut 
away,  and  it  all  fell  with  a  mighty  crash  into  the  river ;  and 
while  the  Etruscans  wondered  and  stopped  in  their  course, 
Horatius  turned  and  prayed  to  the  god  of  the  river,  "0 
Father  Tiber,  I  pray  thee  to  receive  these  arms,  and  me  who 
bear  them,  and  to  let  thy  waters  liefriend  and  save  me. " 
Then  he  leaped  into  the  river,  and  though  the  darts  fell 
thick  around  him,  yet  they  did  not  hit  him,  and  he  swam 
across  to  the  city,  safe  and  sound.  —  Arnold's  Rome. 

4.  At  last,  only  sixteen  years  after  the  driving  out  of  the 
kings,  the  plebeians  thought  that  this  state  of  things  could 
not  be  borne  any  longer.  So  they  marched  out  of  Rome  in 
a  body,  and  took  up  a  position  on  a  hill  a  few  miles  away 
from  the  city,  and  declared  that  they  would  found  there  a 
new  plebeian  city,  and  leave  the  patricians  to  live  in  Eome 
by  themselves.  You  may  imagine  the  patricians  did  not 
like  being  left  in  this  way,  so  they  sent  to  the  plebeians  a 
wise  man,  Menenius  Agrippa,  to  persuade  them  to  come 
back.  He  told  them  a  fable  :  "  Once  upon  a  time  the  other 
members  of  the  body  conspired  against  the  belly  ;  they  de- 
clared that  they  had  all  the  work  to  do,  Avhile  the  belly  lay 
quietly  in  the  middle  of  the  body  and  enjoyed  without 
any  labor  everything  they  brought  it.  So  they  all  struck 
Avork,  and  agreed  to  starve  the  belly  into  subjection.  But 
while  they  starved  the  belly,  the  whole  body  began  to  waste 
away,  and  all  the  members  found  that  they  were  becoming 
weaker  themselves.  So  j'ou  plebeians  will  find  that  in  trying 
to  starve  out  the  patricians  you  will  ruin  3^ourselves."  The 
plebeians  thought  there  was  much  truth  in  this  and  they 
agreed  to  go  back  on  condition  they  might  have  officers  of 
their  own  to  protect  them.  These  officers  were  called 
Tribunes,  and  their  du.ty  was  to  protect  all  plebeians  from 
wrong.     They  could  deliver  any  man  from   the   patrician 

407ie65 


38  EXERCISES. 

magistrates ;  their  houses  were  to  be  places  of  refuge  for 
any  one  who  was  pursued ;  their  doors  were  to  stand  open 
day  and  night.  Moreover  any  one  who  laid  hands  upon 
them  was  to  be  outlawed.  Their  persons  were  to  be  sacred 
as  those  of  heralds.  —  Creighton's  Rome. 

5.  The  Roman  people  scarcely  ever  underwent  a  greater 
danger  than  in  the  war  with  the  Volscians.  Coriolanus, 
leading  the  enemy,  in  a  series  of  uninterrupted  victories 
had  already  advanced  almost  to  the  city  walls  ;  already  had 
the  Romans  given  up  all  hope  of  peace,  and  Avere  preparing 
to  endure  a  siege  ;  already  the  women  filled  the  streets  with 
their  cries,  and  ran  to  all  the  sacred  places,  especially  to  the 
temple  of  Juppiter  Capitolinus.  There,  on  the  top  of  the 
steps  of  the  temple,  A^aleria,  turning  to  the  women,  said, 
"  There  is  one  means  of  safety  still  left,  and  it  depends  upon 

•you  alone."  When  all,  with  tears,  begged  to  know  what 
they  could  do,  she  said :  "  Come  all  of  you  with  me  to  the 
house  of  Veturia  and  implore  her  to  have  pity  upon  the 
city,  and  especially  the  women,  and  to  go  into  the  enemy's 
camp,  and  beseech  her  son  with  prayers  and  tears  not  to 
bring  yet  greater  harm  upon  his  country."  Thereupon  the 
whole  company  went  to  Veturia,  who,  in  wonder,  asked 
why  they  came  in  such  numbers  to  her  debased  and  unfor- 
tunate house.  Then  Valeria  embraced  her  knees,  and  said  : 
"Be  reconciled  and  hear  the  prayer  of  those  who  have  done 
no  wrong  against  thee  or  thy  son,  but  Avho,  if  the  city 
be  taken,  must  suffer  the  utmost  misfortunes.  Go,  beg 
thy  son  to  make  peace  with  his  countrymen  and  return  to 
his  native  land.  If  thou  bringest  him  back,  thou  Avilt  win 
undying  glory,  and  make  the  women  honored  in  the  sight 
of  the  men,  for  having  ended  a  war  which  they  themselves 
could  not  end."  Veturia  granted  their  prayer  and  saved  the 
city. 

6.  Another  story  which  the  Romans  tell  of  a  war  against 
the  iEquians,  shows  how  simple  their  customs  were,  and 


EXERCISES.  39 

how  all  the  citizens  served  the  state.  The  consul  Minucius 
was  warring  against  tlie  J^quians,  but  they  had  shut  him 
up  in  a  steep,  narrow  valley,  and  guarded  the  mouth  of  it  so 
that  he  could  not  get  out.  Kews  was  brought  to  Eome,  and 
the  Senate  said,  "  There  is  only  one  man  who  can  help  us  : 
let  us  make  Lucius  Quinctius  dictator."  So  they  sent  mes- 
sengers to  Lucius  Quinctius  whose  surname  was  the  curly- 
haired.  He  was  at  his  farm  on  which  he  lived,  and  was 
ploughing  without  his  cloak,  when  the  messengers  of  the 
Senate  found  him.  So  he  called  to  his  wife  to  bring  him 
his  cloak,  that  he  might  show  respect  to  the  messengers. 
They  then  hailed  him  as  dictator,  and  brought  him  to 
Rome.  And  he  ordered  all  who  could  bear  arms  to  get 
ready  to  march,  and  to  take  with  them  provisions  and 
twelve  long  stakes  of  wood.  So  he  marched  out  with  his 
army,  and  came  upon  the  J^quians  by  night.  His  soldiers 
raised  a  shout,  which  cheered  the  consul  and  his  men,  who 
knew  that  help  had  come,  and  so  fell  upon  the  .^quians. 
But  Lucius  bade  his  men  dig  a  ditch  around  the  ^quians 
and  make  a  hedge  round  them  with  their  wooden  stakes. 
This  they  did  ail  night,  and  when  it  was  morning  the 
^quians  found  themselves  shut  in  in  their  turn.  Then  they 
surrendered  to  the  dictator ;  and  so  he  delivered  the  consul  • 
and  his  army,  and  came  back  to  Rome  in  triumph.  But  he 
laid  down  his  office  of  dictator  at  once,  and  went  back  to 
his  farm.  —  Creiohton's  Rome. 

7.  Finally  the  plebeians  asked  that  the  consuls  and  trib- 
unes also  should  cease,  and  that  ten  new  magistrates  should 
be  elected  from  the  patricians  and  plebeians  alike.  These 
magistrates  were  to  find  out  the  laws,  and  write  them  up  in 
the  forum,  where  the  people  gathered  together,  so  that 
every  one  should  know  them,  and  no  man  should  be  un- 
justly oppressed.  Till  this  time  the  patricians  had  kept 
the  laws  to  themselves,  and  so  had  been  able  to  judge  the 
plebeians  as  they  chose.     For  ten  years  there  were  bitter 


40  EXERCISES. 

struggles  about  this  proposal  till,  at  last,  ten  new  magis- 
trates,  called  from  their  number  Decemviri,  were  appointed. 
They  published  the  laws  to  the  great  joy  of  the  plebeians. 
But  one  among  the  Decemviri,  Appius  Claudius,  a  patrician, 
was  a  proud  and  haughty  man,  who  would  always  have  his 
own  way.  He  wished  to  have  for  his  servant  the  daughter 
of  a  plebeian  called  Virginius,  so  he  got  a  man  to  declare 
that  Virginia,  as  the  girl  was  called,  was  not  really  the 
daughter  of  Virginius,  but  a  slave  of  his.  The  case  was 
brought  before  Appius  Claudius  to  try,  and  Appius,  of 
course,  decided  that  Virginia  was  a  slave.  Then  her  father, 
who  was  a  soldier,  and  had  hurried  to  Rome  from  the  camp, 
led  his  daughter  to  one  side  to  say  "  Farewell "  to  her ;  but 
he  seized  a  butcher's  knife  from  the  market-place,  and 
plunged  it  into  his  daughter's  heart,  saying,  "  It  is  the  only 
way  to  keep  you  free."  Then  the  people  in  horror  rose 
against  Appius,  and  drove  out  the  Decemviri,  ani  elected 
consuls  and  tribunes  again.  Still,  the  plebeians  had  now 
got  the  laws,  and  so  grew  more  powerful,  and  after  the 
Decemvirate  they  were  not  so  wretched  as  they  had  been 

before.  —  Creighton's  Rome. 

8.  The  Romans  had  lost  so  many  men  in  the  battle  that 
they  had  no  hope  of  defending  the  city.  So  the  people  all 
fled,  except  a  few  of  the  bravest  soldiers,  who  shut  them- 
selves up  in  the  Capitol,  which  was  the  castle  of  Rome,  de- 
termined that  it  should  not  be  taken.  There  stayed  also 
some  of  the  oldest  patricians,  who  would  not  leavj  .n  their 
old  age  the  city  they  loved  so  well.  They  all  dressed  them- 
selves in  their  best  robes,  and  sat  in  their  seats  in  the  sen- 
ate-house. When  the  Gauls  rushed  in,  and  found  no  one  in 
the  city  except  these  old  men  who  sat  in  silence,  they  were 
astonished.  At  last  one  of  the  Gauls  began  to  stroke  the 
long  white  beard  of  Marcus  Papirius,  who  was  onj  of  the 
priests.  He  in  anger  struck  the  Gaul  with  his  ivory  sceptre 
which  he  held  in  his  hand.      Then  the  Gauls  rushed  upon 


EXERCISES.  41 

them  and  killed  them  all,  and  set  fire  to  the  city.  Next 
the  Gauls  tried  to  take  the  Capitol,  but  they  could  not  find 
any  way  up  to  it,  because  the  rock  was  steep.  At  last  they 
found  a  path,  and  one  night  a  band  of  Gauls  climbed  up  so 
secretly  that  no  one  of  the  Eomans  heard  them.  But  there 
were  in  the  Capitol  some  geese,  which  were  sacred  to  the 
goddess  Juno  ;  and  as  the  Gauls  reached  the  top  these 
geese  began  to  cackle,  and  awoke  a  brave  Koman,  Marcus 
Manlius,  who  was  just  in  time  to  find  the  foremost  Gaul 
clambering  over  the  edge  of  the  rock.  He  pushed  him 
back  with  his  shield  and  the  Gaul  fell;  as  he  fell  he 
knocked  over  many  of  those  who  were  following  him,  and 
the  Romans  had  time  to  awake  and  drive  the  rest  back.  So 
the  Capitol  was  saved  and  after  awhile  the  Gauls  went  back 
to  their  own  country,  carrying  their  plunder  with  them. 

9.  At  last  the  Sabines  made  a  vow  that  if  they  should 
conquer  their  enemies,  all  the  living  creatures  born  in  their 
land  in  that  year  should  be  devoted  to  the  gods  as  sacred. 
They  did  conquer,  and  they  offered  in  sacrifice  accordingly 
all  the  lambs  and  calves  and  pigs  of  that  year;  and  such 
animals  as  might  not  be  sacrificed  they  redeemed.  But  still 
their  land  would  not  yield  its  fruits,  and  when  they  thought 
what  was  the  cause  of  it,  they  considered  that  their  vow 
had  not  been  duly  performed;  for  all  their  own  children 
born  within  that  year  had  been  kept  back  from  the  gods, 
and  had  neither  been  sacrificed  nor  redeemed.  So  they  de- 
voted all  their  children  to  the  god  Mamers  ;  and  when  they 
were  grown  up,  they  sent  them  away  to  become  a  new  peo- 
ple in  a  new  land.  When  the  young  men  set  out  on  their 
way  it  happened  that  a  bull  went  before  them,  and  they 
thought  that  Mamers  had  sent  him  to  be  their  guide,  and 
they  followed  him.  He  laid  himself  down  to  rest  for  the 
first  time  when  he  had  come  to  the  land  of  the  Opicans, 
and  the  Sabines  thought  that  this  was  a  sign  to  them, 
and  they  fell  upon   the   Opicans  who  dwelt   in  scattered 


42  EXERCISES. 

villages  without  walls  to  defend  them,  and  they  drove  them 
out,  and  took  possession  of  their  land.  Then  they  offered 
the  bull  in  sacrifice  to  Mamers,  who  had  sent  liim  to  be 
their  guide,  and  a  bull  was  the  device  which  they  bore  in 
after  ages,  and  they  themselves  were  no  more  called  Sabines, 
but  they  took  a  new  name  and  were  called  Samnites. 

10.  It  was  well  for  Eome  that  she  had  made  the  Latins 
contented,  for  soon  afterwards  began  the  second  Samnite  war, 
which  lasted  for  twenty-two  years.  It  was  a  war  in  which 
both  sides  fought  hard,  for  they  knew  that  the  people  which 
won  would  be  the  chief  state  in  Ital}^  The  Samnites  had 
a  very  brave  general,  called  Gains  Pontius,  who  once  very 
nearly  destroyed  the  Eoman  army.  He  made  his  army  pre- 
tend to  run  away,  and  the  Eomans  followed  him  by  the 
shortest  way,  till  they  were  shut  up  in  a  valley,  with  the 
Samnites  all  around  them,  and  could  not  get  out.  They 
had  to  surrender  to  Pontius,  and  he  made  peace  with  them, 
and  let  them  go  free.  But  the  Romans  at  home  would  not 
hear  of  the  peace ;  they  said  that  no  peace  was  rightly 
made  except  by  the  Senate,  and  they  sent  back  as  prisoners 
to  Pontius  the  consuls  who  had  made  the  peace.  Pontius 
said  he  might  have  killed  all  the  army  if  he  had  chosen, 
and  he  could  have  forced  them  to  make  peace ;  now,  if  they 
would  not  have  peace,  let  them  put  their  army  back  again 
in  the  pass  of  Caudium.  But  the  Eomans  refused,  saying 
they  had  sent  him  the  consuls  who  had  done  the  wrong, 
and  that  was  all  they  were  bound  to  do.  Pontius  sent  the 
consuls  back,  and  the  war  went  on.  The  Eomans  did  not 
act  fairly  in  this,  but  they  were  always  a  people  who 
thought  they  had  done  their  duty  if  they  kept  the  letter 
of  the  law.  As  the  war  went  on  the  Etruscans  became 
frightened  at  Eome's  power,  and  helped  the  Samnites,  but 
they  too  were  beaten.  At  last  the  Samnites  were  obliged 
to  lay  down  their  arms.  —  Creightox's  Rome. 

11.  When  the  armies  closed,  the  Roman  left  wing  strug- 


EXERCISES.  43 

gled  vigorously  against  the  numbers  and  strength  and  cour- 
age of  the  Gauls.  Twice,  it  is  said,  did  the  Roman  and 
Cauipauian  cavalry  charge  with  effect  the  Gaulish  horsemen ; 
but  in  their  second  charge  they  were  encountered  by  a  force 
wholly  strange  to  them,  the  war  chariots  of  the  enemy, 
which  broke  in  upon  them  at  full  speed,  and  with  the  rat- 
tling of  their  wheels,  and  their  unwonted  appearance,  so 
startled  the  horses  of  the  Eomans  that  they  could  not  be 
brought  to  face  them,  and  horses  and  men  fled  in  confusion. 
The  Roman  cavalry  were  driven  back  upon  their  infantry ; 
the  first  line  of  the  legions  was  broken,  and  the  Gauls  fol- 
lowing their  advantage,  pressed  on  with  the  masses  of  their 
infantry.  Decius  strove  in  vain  to  stop  the  flight  of  his 
soldiers ;  one  way  alone  was  left  by  wdiich  he  might  yet 
serve  his  country  ;  he  bethought  him  of  his  father  at  the 
battle  by  Vesuvius,  and  calling  to  ]M.  Livius,  one  of  the  pon- 
tifices  who  attended  him  in  the  field,  he  desired  him  to  dic- 
tate to  him  the  fit  words  for  self-devotion.  Then  in  the  same 
dress,  and  with  all  the  same  ceremonies,  he  pronounced  also 
the  same  form  of  words  which  had  been  uttered  by  his 
father,  and  devoting  himself,  and  the  host  of  the  enemy 
with  him,  to  the  grave  and  to  the  powers  of  the  dead,  he 
rode  into  the  midst  of  the  Gaulish  ranks  and  was  slain. 
His  soldiers,  thinking  that  he  had  thus  paid  the  price  for 
their  victory,  kejit  up  the  fight  until  help  came  to  them  from 
the  right  wing.  —  Arnold's  Rome. 

12.  Pyrrhus  resolved  to  attack  Curius  before  his  colleague 
joined  him,  and  he  planned  an  attack  upon  his  camp  by 
night.  He  set  out  by  torch-light  with  the  flower  of  his 
soldiers  and  the  best  of  his  elephants,  but  the  way  was  long 
and  the  country  overgrown  Avith  woods,  and  intersected 
with  deep  ravines ;  so  that  his  progress  was  slow,  and  at 
last  the  lights  were  burned  out  and  the  men  were  contin- 
ually missing  their  way.  Day  broke  before  they  reached 
their   destination,  but   still  the  enemy  were  not  aware  of 


44  EXERCISES. 

their  approach  till  they  had  surmounted  the  heights  above 
the  Roman  camp,  and  were  descendinjij  to  attack  it  from 
the  vantage-ground.  Then  Curius  led  out  his  troops  to 
oppose  them,  and  the  nature  of  the  ground  gave  the  llonians 
a  great  advantage  over  the  heavy-armed  Greek  infantry  as 
soon  as  the  attempt  to  surprise  them  had  failed.  I>ut  the 
action  seems  to  have  been  decided  by  an  accident;  for  one 
of  Pyrrhus'  elephants  was  wounded,  and,  running  wild 
among  his  own  men,  thre^v  them  into  disorder ;  nor  could 
they  offer  a  long  resistance,  being  almost  exhausted  with 
the  fatigue  of  their  night  march.  They  were  repulsed  with 
great  loss,  two  elephants  were  killed,  and  eight  being  forced 
into  impracticable  ground  from  which  there  was  no  outlet, 
were  surrendered  to  the  Romans  by  their  drivers.  Thus 
encouraged,  Curius  no  longer  declined  a  decisive  action  on 
equal  ground ;  he  descended  into  the  plain  and  met  Pyrrhus 
in  the  open  field.  —  Arnold's  Rome. 

13.  The  way  to  Africa  was  now  open,  and  the  consuls, 
after  having  filled  their  ships  with  more  than  their  usual 
suj)plies,  as  they  knew  not  what  port  would  next  receive 
them,  prepared  to  leave  the  coast  of  Sicily  and  to  cross  the 
open  sea  to  an  unknown  world.  The  soldiers  and  even  one 
of  the  military  tribunes  murmured.  They  had  been  kept 
from  home  during  one  whole  winter,  and  now  they  were  to 
be  carried  to  a  strange  country  into  the  very  stronghold  of 
their  enemy's  power,  to  a  land  of  scorching  heat  and  in- 
fested with  noisome  beasts  and  monstrous  serpents,  such  as 
all  stories  of  Africa  had  told  them  of.  Eegulus,  it  is  said, 
threatened  the  tribune  with  death,  and  forced  the  men  on 
board.  The  fleet  did  not  keep  together,  and  thirty  ships 
reached  the  African  shore  unsupported,  and  might  have 
been  destroyed  before  the  arrival  of  the  rest,  had  not  the 
Carthaginians  in  their  confusion  neglected  their  opportu- 
nity. When  the  whole  fleet  was  re-assembled,  uiider  the 
headland  of  Hermes,  they  stood  to  the  southward  along  the 


EXERCISES.  45 

coast,  and  disembarked  the  legions  near  the  place  called 
Aspis  or  Clypea,  a  fortress  built  by  Agathocles  about  fifty 
years  before,  and  deriving  its  name  from  its  walls  forming 
a  circle  upon  the  top  of  a  conical  hill.  They  immediately 
drew  their  ships  up  on  the  beach  after  the  ancient  manner, 
and  secured  them  with  a  ditch  and  rampart,  and  having 
fortified  Clypea,  and  despatched  messengers  to  Kome  with 
the  news  of  their  success,  and  to  ask  for  further  instruc- 
tions, they  began  to  march  into  the  country.  —  Ibid. 

14.  AVhen  the  signal  was  given,  the  Carthaginian  cavalry 
and  elephants  immediately  advanced,  and  the  Romans,  clash- 
ing their  pila  against  the  iron  rims  of  their  shields,  and  cheer- 
ing loudly,  rushed  on  to  meet  them.  The  left  wing,  passing 
by  the  right  of  the  line  of  elephants,  attacked  the  Cartha- 
ginian mercenaries  and  routed  them ;  Xanthippus  rode  up 
to  rally  them,  threw  himself  from  _  his  horse,  and  fought 
amongst  them  as  a  common  soldier.  Meantime  his  cavalry 
had  swept  the  E-oman  and  Italian  horse  from  the  field,  and 
then  charged  the  legions  on  the  rear,  while  the  elephants, 
driving  the  velites  before  them  into  the  intervals  of  the 
maniples,  broke  into  the  Eoman  main  battle,  and  with  irre- 
sistible weight,  and  strength,  and  fury  trampled  under  foot, 
and  beat  down,  and  dispersed  the  bravest.  If  any  forced 
their  way  forwards  through  the  elephants'  line,  they  were 
received  by  the  Carthaginian  infantry,  who,  being  fresh  and 
in  unbroken  order,  presently  cut  them  to  pieces.  Two 
thousand  men  of  the  left  of  the  Roman  army  escaped  after 
they  had  driven  the  mercenaries  to  their  camp,  and  found 
that  all  was  lost  behind  them.  Regulus  himself,  Avith  five 
hundred  more,  fled  also  from  the  rout,  but  was  pursued, 
overtaken,  and  made  prisoner.  The  rest  of  the  Roman 
army  was  destroyed  to  a  man  on  the  field  of  battle.  The 
few  fugitives  of  the  left  wing  made  their  escape  to  Clypea. 
Tunes,  it  seems,  was  lost  immediately,  and,  except  Clypea, 
the  Romans  did  not  retain  a  foot  of  ground  in  Africa. 


46  EXERCISES. 

15.  The  Romans  might  have  attacked  him  while  he  was 
among  the  Gauls,  who  dwell  west  of  the  Alps,  and  so  he 
wovild  never  have  got  into  Italy  at  all.  But  he  was  too 
quick  for  them,  and  got  on  so  much  faster  than  the  Romans 
thought  he  would,  that  they  always  came  too  late.  Thus 
the  Roman  army  came  to  the  Rhone  just  three  days  after 
Hannibal  had  crossed  it,  so  they  had  to  go  away  and  wait 
for  him  in  Cisalpine  Gaul.  Hannibal  crossed  the  Rhone 
very  quickly  ;  in  two  days  he  got  together  all  the  boats  he 
wanted  to  take  his  soldiers  across.  The  Gauls  were  on  the 
opposite  shore  to  prevent  him  from  landing.  So  he  sent 
some  soldiers  by  night  to  go  farther  up  the  river,  and  cross 
where  the  Gauls  did  not  see  them.  Then  he  moored  all  his 
large  boats  so  as  to  break  the  force  of  the  stream,  and  put 
his  men  in  smaller  boats,  Avith  the  horses  swimming  by  the 
side.  So  Hannibal  waited  till  he  saw  some  smoke  rising 
behind  the  Gauls,  for  this  was  the  sign  that  his  soldiers 
who  had  been  sent  before  had  got  across.  Then  he  told  all 
his  men  to  row  hard  at  their  boats  ;  as  they  got  to  the  shore 
the  Gauls  rushed  on  them,  but  they  heard  a  shout  behind 
and  saw  their  tents  on  fire,  and  the  soldiers  of  Hannibal 
coming  against  them  where  they  did  not  exjDCct  it.  They 
were  afraid  and  ran  aAvay,  so  the  soldiers  landed  easily.  It 
was  a  much  harder  thing  for  Hannibal  to  march  up  the 
Alps,  for  the  people  of  the  mountains  rolled  down  great 
stones  upon  his  troops,  and  attacked  them  from  behind 
when  they  were  not  expectin;^-  it.  But  even  this  A\as  not 
so  bad  as  the  cold,  and  the  dangers  of  snow  and  ice.  These 
were  most  felt  on  the  way  down  into  Cisalpine  Gaul ;  the 
paths,  being  only  made  of  ice,  broke  away,  and  men  slipped 
down  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain  and  were  killed.  So 
he  lost  more  than  half  the  force  with  which  he  crossed  the 
Rhone,  before  he  met  the  Romans  in  Italy. 

16.  Suddenly  in  the  spring  before  the  enemy's  armies 
began  to  move,  Scipio  set  out  with  his  whole  army  and  fleet 


EXERCISES.  47 

for  New  Carthage,  whieh  he  could  reach  by  the  coast  route 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Ebro  in  a  few  days,  and  surprised 
the  Carthaginian  garrison  by  a  combined  attack  on  sea  and 
land.  The  town,  situated  on  a  tongue  of  land  projecting 
into  the  harbor,  found  itself  threatened  at  once  on  three 
sides  by  the  Roman  fleet,  and  on  the  fourth  by  the  legions ; 
and  all  help  was  far  distant.  Nevertheless  the  command- 
ant Mago  defended  himself  with  resolution,  and  armed  the 
citizens,  as  the  soldiers  did  not  suffice  to  man  the  walls.  A 
sortie  Avas  attempted  ;  but  the  Romans  repelled  it  with  ease 
and,  instead  of  taking  time  to  open  a  regular  siege,  began 
the  assault  on  the  landward  side.  Eagerly  the  assailants 
pushed  their  advance  along  the  narrow  land  approach  to 
the  tojvn ;  new  columns  constantly  relieved  those  that  were 
fatigued ;  the  weak  garrison  was  utterly  exhausted,  but  the 
Romans  had  gained  no  advantage.  Scipio  had  not  expected 
any ;  the  assault  was  designed  merely  to  draw  away  the  gar- 
rison from  the  side  next  to  the  harbor,  where,  having  been 
informed  that  part  of  the  latter  was  left  dry  at  ebb-tide,  he 
meditated  a  second  attack.  While  the  assault  was  raging 
on  the  landAvard  side,  Scipio  sent  a  division  with  ladders 
over  the  shallows  "where  Neptune  himself  showed  them 
the  way,"  and  they  had  actually  the  good  fortune  to  find 
the  walls  at  that  point  undefended.  Thus  the  city  was 
won  on  the  first  day,  whereupon  Mago  in  the  citadel  capitu- 
lated.—  Dixox's  Mommsen. 

17.  On  this,  Fulvius  Flaccus  left  the  Senate,  informed 
Gracchus  of  the  speech  of  Nasica,  and  told  him  that  his 
death  was  resolved  upon.  Then  the  friends  of  Gracchus 
girded  up  their  gowns,  and  armed  themselves  with  staves, 
for  the  purpose  of  repelling  force  by  force.  In  the  midst 
of  the  uproar,  Gracchus  raised  his  hand  to  his  head.  His 
enemies  cried  that  he  was  asking  for  a  crown.  Exagger- 
ated reports  were  carried  into  the  senate-house,  and  Nasica 
exclaimed;,   ''  The  consul  is   betraying  the  republic  :    those 


48  EXERCISES. 

who  would  save  their  country,  follow  me  ! "  So  saying,  he 
drew  the  skirt  of  his  gown  over  his  head,  after  the  manner 
used  by  the  Pontifex  Maximus  in  solemn  acts  of  worship. 
A  number  of  senators  followed,  and  the  people  respectfully 
made  way.  But  the  nobles  and  their  partisans  broke  up 
the  benches  that  had  been  set  out  for  the  assembly,  and 
began  an  assault  upon  the  adherents  of  Gracchus,  who  fled 
in  disorder.  Gracchus  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  resist- 
ance ;  he  left  his  gown  in  the  hands  of  a  friend  who  sought 
to  detain  him,  and  made  towards  the  Temple  of  Jupiter. 
But  the  priests  had  closed  the  doors,  and  in  his  haste  he 
stumbled  over  a  bench,  and  fell.  As  he  was  rising,  one  of 
his  own  colleagues  struck  him  on  the  head  with  a  stool ; 
another  claimed  the  honor  of  repeating  the  blow  ;  and  be- 
fore the  statues  of  the  old  kings  at  the  portico  of  the  Tem- 
ple the  tribune  lay  dead.  Many  of  his  adherents  were 
slain  with  him ;  many  were  forced  over  the  wall  at  the  edge 
of  the  Tarpeian  Rock,  and  were  killed  by  their  fall.  Not 
fewer  than  three  hundred  lost  their  lives  in  the  fray. 

18.  After  Sulla  had  left  Eome  the  two  consuls  began  to 
quarrel,  one  being  on  the  side  of  Sulla,  the  other  on  the 
side  of  Marius.  At  last  L.  Cornelius  Cinna,  who  was 
Marius'  consul,  gathered  an  army^  and  brought  Marius  back. 
Marius  had  had  many  troubles  in  trying  to  escape  from 
Italy.  The  sailors  of  a  ship  on  which  he  wished  to  go  to 
Africa  persuaded  him  to  land  near  Minturnai,  and  then 
sailed  away  and  left  him.  He  was  pursued,  and  taken 
prisoner,  though  he  had  tried  to  hide  himself  by  standing 
up  to  the  chin  in  a  marsh.  Ho  was  put  in  prison  at  Min- 
turnaj,  and  the  magistrates  sent  a  Gaulish  slave  to  put  him 
to  death  in  prison ;  but  when  the  slave  came  to  Marius  the 
old  man's  eyes  flashed  so  terribly  through  the  dark  prison, 
as  he  said,  ''  Fellow,  darest  thou  kill  Gains  Marius  ?  "  that 
the  man  dropped  his  sword  and  ran  away.  Then  the  magis- 
trates were  ashamed  and  let  Marius  go.     He  crossed  over 


EXERCISES.  49 

to  Africa,  but  had  no  sooner  landed  than  he  was  warned  by 
the  magistrates  to  go  away.  Those  who  were  sent  to  tell 
him  to  go  found  him  sitting  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage, 
and  when  they  had  given  their  message  he  said,  "  Say  you 
have  seen  Gaius  Marius  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage." 
Now  that  his  troubles  were  over  Marius  came  back  to  Rome 
very  savage  after  all  that  he  had  suffered.  He  and  Cinna 
put  to  death  all  the  chief  people  who  were  opposed  to 
them.  For  five  days  the  gates  of  Rome  were  shut,  and 
Marius  went  through  the  streets  with  a  body  of  soldiers, 
who  put  to  death  any  one  he  pointed  out. 

19.  Csesar  was  afraid  that  when  he  came  back  to  Rome 
as  a  private  man  he  would  be  brought  to  trial  on  some 
charge  or  another  before  the  people,  and  then  would  be 
condemned  by  the  votes  of  Pompeius'  soldiers.  There  was 
no  certainty  what  might  happen,  and  Caesar  was  determined 
to  carry  out  his  own  plans,  and  to  alter  the  government  of 
Rome.  The  Senate  was  more  afraid  of  him  than  of  Pom- 
peius who  made  himself  the  head  of  the  party  of  the 
nobles  and  those  who  held  by  the  existing  form  of  govern- 
ment. Caesar,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  leader  of  the 
people,  and  of  those  who  wished  for  a  reform  in  the  govern- 
ment. It  was  soon  very  clear  to  every  one  that  the  ques- 
tions in  dispute  would  never  be  settled  peaceably,  but  that 
there  would  be  a  great  civil  war.  The  question  about 
which  the  war  broke  out  was  this  :  Caesar  demanded  that 
either  both  he  and  Pompeius  should  give  up  their  provinces 
at  the  same  time,  or  he  should  be  allowed  to  stand  for  the 
consulship  while  absent  in  Gaul,  so  that  he  might  come  to 
Rome  as  consul,  and  be  as  strong  as  Pompeius  in  the  state. 
Caesar  was  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  had  many  friends 
in  Rome,  but  the  Senate  did  not  know  how  strong  he  was, 
so  they  refused  his  proposals,  and  when  two  of  the  tribunes 
took  Caesar's  side  they  were  threatened  with  loss  of  their 
office.     They  fled  to  Caesar,  who  now  had  a  cause  for  war, 


50  EXERCISES. 

and  who  advanced  into  Roman  ground,  passing  the  little 
river  Rubicon,  which  separates  Gaul  from  Italy  ;  he  said 
he  came  to  defend  the  tribunes  of  the  people  against  the 
Senate.  —  Ckeighton's  Rome. 

20.    It  was  now  Antonius'  turn  to  be  afraid  of  the  power 

of   Octavianus,  who    was   master   of   Italy,  which  he  had 

saved  from  great  distress,  and  where  he  had  quietly  and 

moderately   introduced   law  and   order.      All   Caesar's  old 

soldiers  followed  him,  and  he  was  the  head  of  all  the  old 

political  party  of   Marius.     Antonius,  on  the  other  hand, 

became  more  and  more  disliked  at  Rome.     He  lived  entirely 

in  the  East,  where  he  was  altogether  under  the  influence  of 

Cleopatra,  and  followed  Eastern  habits  and  customs,  which 

the  Romans  heard  of  with  disgust.     So,  gradually,  a  war 

came  about  between  Octavianus  and  Antonius,  which  was 

settled  by  the  battle  of  Actium  in  the  year  31,     This  battle 

was  fought  at  sea,  off   the  west  coast  of  Greece,  and  was 

decided  by  the  flight  of  Cleopatra's  ship  in  the  middle  of 

the  battle.     Antonius  was   so   distressed   at   this  that  he 

followed  her ;  and  then  all  his  ships,  seeing  their  general 

run  away,  turned  and  fled  likewise.     Antonius  was  pursued 

to  Egypt,  where  he  attempted  to  commit  suicide  on  hearing 

Cleopatra   was  dead;  but   she  was  not,  and  he  lived  just 

long  enough  to  see  her,  but  died  in  time  to  escape  falling 

into  the  hands  of  Octavianus.    Cleopatra  was  taken  prisoner, 

but  committed  suicide  by  the  sting  of  an  asp,  which  she 

contrived  to  have  sent  to  her  in  a  basket  of  fruit.     She  was 

the  last  queen  of   Egypt;  after  her  death  it  was  made  a 

Roman   province.     So   now   again   the   Roman  world  was 

under  the  rule  of  one  man.  —  Ckeighton's  Rome. 

21.  When  the  appointed  time  arrived,  the  conspirators 
appeared  armed  like  the  rest  of  the  citizens,  but  carrying 
concealed  daggers  besides.  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton 
had  planned  to  kill  Hijipias  first,  as  he  was  arranging  the 
order   of   the   procession  in  the  Ceramicus ;  but  upon  ap 


EXEECISES.  51 

proaching  the  spot  where  he  was  standing  they  were 
thunderstruck  at  behohling  one  of  the  conspirators  in  close 
conversation  with  the  despot.  Believing  that  they  were 
betrayed,  and  resolving  before  they  died  to  wreak  their 
vengeance  upon  Hipparchus,  they  rushed  back  into  the  city 
"with  their  daggers  hid  in  the  myrtle  boughs  which  they 
were  to  have  carried  in  the  procession.  They  found  him 
near  the  chapel  called  Leocorion,  and  killed  him  on  the 
spot.  Harmodius  was  immediately  cut  down  by  the  guards. 
Aristogeiton  escaped  for  the  time,  but  was  afterwards 
taken,  and  died  under  the  tortures  to  which  he  was  sub- 
jected in  order  to  compel  him  to  disclose  his  accomplices. 
The  news  of  his  brother's  death  reached  Hippias  before  it 
became  generally  known.  With  extraordinary  presence  of 
mind  he  called  upon  the  citizens  to  drop  their  arms,  and 
meet  him  in  an  adjoining  ground.  They  obeyed  without 
suspicion.  He  then  apprehended  those  on  whose  persons 
daggers  were  discovered,  and  all  besides  whom  he  had  any 
reason  to  suspect.  —  Smith's  Greece. 

22.  Cyrus  anticipated  his  enemy's  plans ;  he  waited  till 
the  Lydian  king  had  re-entered  his  capital  and  dismissed 
his  troops  ;  and  he  then  marched  upon  Sardis  with  such 
celerity  that  he  appeared  under  the  walls  of  the  city  before 
any  one  could  notice  his  approach.  Croesus  was  thus  com- 
pelled to  fight  without  the  help  of  his  allies ;  but  he  did 
not  despair  of  success ;  for  the  Lydian  cavalry  was  dis- 
tinguished for  its  efficiency,  and  the  open  plain  before 
Sardis  was  favorable  for  its  evolutions.  To  render  this 
force  useless,  Cyrus  placed  in  front  of  his  lines  the  baggage 
camels,  which  the  Lydian  horses  could  not  endure  either  to 
see  or  to  smell.  The  Lydians,  however,  did  not  on  this 
account  decline  the  contest ;  they  dismounted  from  their 
horses,  and  fought  bravely  on  foot ;  and  it  was  not  until 
after  a  fierce  contest  that  they  were  obliged  to  take  refuge 
within  the  city.     Here  they  considered  themselves  secure, 


52  EXERCISES. 

till  their  allies  should  come  to  their  aid ;  for  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Sardis  were  deemed  impregnable  to  assault.  There 
was,  however,  one  side  of  the  city  Avhich  had  been  left 
unfortified,  because  it  stood  upon  a  rock  so  high  and  steep 
as  to  seem  quite  inaccessible.  But  on  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  siege  a  Persian  soldier,  having  seen  one  of  the  garrison 
descend  this  rock  to  pick  up  his  helmet  which  had  rolled 
down,  climbed  up  the  same  way,  followed  by  several  of  his 
comrades.  Sardis  was  thus  taken.  Croesus  with  all  his 
treasures  fell  into  the  hands  of  Cyrus. —  Smith's  Greece. 

23.  Hannibal  was  the  only  man  who  perceived  that  he 
was  aimed  at  by  the  Komans ;  and  that  peace  was  only 
allowed  the  Carthaginians  on  the  understanding  that  a  re- 
morseless war  should  be  maintained  against  himself  alone. 
He  therefore  resolved  to  submit  to  the  crisis  and  to  his 
fate  ;  and  having  prepared  everything  for  flight,  he  first 
publicly  ap])eared  in  the  forum  on  that  day  in  order  to  avert 
suspicion  ;  but,  as  soon  as  darkness  fell,  departed  in  his 
out-of-doors  dress,  with  two  attendants  ignorant  of  his 
design.  Horses  being  in  readiness  at  the  spot  where  they 
had  been  ordered,  he  passed  through  Byzacium  by  night, 
and  arrived  on  the  following  day  at  a  castle  of  his  own  on 
the  seacoast.  There  a  vessel,  prepared  and  manned  Avith 
rowers,  received  him.  Thus  did  Hannibal  leave  Africa, 
pitying  the  fate  of  his  country  more  than  his  own.  Land- 
ing at  the  isle  of  Cercina,  and  finding  there  several  Phoeni- 
cian merchant-ships  in  the  harbor,  and  a  concourse  of  people 
having  flocked  together  to  welcome  him  as  he  disembarked 
from  the  vessel,  he  ordered  that  all  who  inquired  should  be 
informed  that  he  had  been  sent  as  ambassador  to  Tyre. 
Then,  fearing  that  through  these  merchants  his  flight  might 
be  discovered  at  Carthage,  he  invited  the  merchants  and 
captains  of  the  vessels  to  a  great  banquet,  and  ordered  that 
the  sails  and  yards  should  be  brought  from  the  ships  that 
they  might  enjoy  the  shade  while  supping  on  the   shore. 


EXERCISES.  53 

The  feast  was  protracted  with  a  profusion  of  wine  to  a 
late  hour  of  the  night,  and  Hannibal,  as  soon  as  he  found 
an  opportunity  of  escaping  the  notice  of  those  who  were  in 
the  harbor,  unmoored  his  vessel,  and  sailed  away. 

24.  The  next  day,  Hannibal,  crossing  the  Anio,  drew  out 
all  his  forces  in  order  of  battle,  nor  did  Flaccus  decline  the 
contest.  The  troops  on  both  sides  having  been  drawn  up  to 
try  the  chances  of  a  battle,  in  which  the  city  of  Rome  was 
to  be  the  conqueror's  prize,  a  violent  shower  mingled  with 
hail  so  disordered  both  the  lines  that  the  troops,  scarcely 
able  to  hold  their  arms,  retired  into  their  camps,  with  less 
fear  of  the  enemy  than  anything  else.  On  the  following 
day,  also,  a  similar  storm  separated  the  armies  marshalled 
on  the  same  ground.  After  they  had  retired  to  their  camps, 
an  extraordinary  calm  and  tranquillity  arose ;  whereupon 
Hannibal  is  said  to  have  cried  out,  that  at  one  moment  the 
inclination,  at  another,  the  opportunity,  of  becoming  master 
of  Rome  was  not  allowed  him.  Other  contingencies,  also, 
the  one  important,  the  other  insignificant,  diminished  his 
hopes.  The  one  was,  that,  while  he  was  encamped  near  the 
walls  of  the  city  he  heard  that  troops  had  marched  out  with 
colors  flying,  as  a  reinforcement  for  Spain ;  the  other,  that  it 
was  discovered,  from  one  of  his  prisoners,  that  at  this  very 
time  the  very  ground  on  which  he  was  encamped  had  been 
sold,  with  no  diminution  of  the  price  on  that  account.  In 
fact,  it  appeared  so  great  an  insult  and  indignity  that  a  pur- 
chaser should  have  been  found  at  Rome  for  the  very  soil 
which  he  possessed  as  the  prize  of  war,  that,  calling  instantly 
for  a  crier,  he  ordered  that  the  silversmiths'  shops,  which 
then  were  ranged  around  the  forum,  should  be  put  up  for 
sale.  —  LivT  xxvi.  11. 

25.  They  had  crossed  the  plain  to  the  foot  of  the  hills  in 
the  dark,  during  the  last  watch  of  the  night,  and  found  the 
passes  unguarded.  But  the  people  fled  from  the  villages  at 
their  approach,  and,  though  the  Greeks  at  first  spared  their 


54  EXERCISES. 

property,  could  not  be  induced  to  listen  to  any  offers  of 
peace ;  but  having  recovered  from  their  first  surprise,  and 
collected  a  part  of  their  forces,  they  fell  upon  the  rear  of  the 
Greeks,  and  with  their  missiles  made  some  slaughter  among 
the  last  troops,  which  issued  in  the  dusk  of  evening  from  the 
long  and  narrow  defile.  In  the  night  the  watch-fires  of  the 
Carduchians  were  seen  blazing  on  the  peaks  of  the  sur- 
rounding hills ;  signals  which  warned  the  Greeks  that  they 
might  expect  to  be  attacked  by  the  collected  forces  of  their 
tribes.  On  the  fifth  day  as  the  army  was  ascending  a  lofty 
ridge  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Sacred  Mountain, 
Xenophon  and  the  rear-guard  observed  a  stoppage  and  an 
unusual  clamor  in  the  foremost  ranks,  which  had  reached 
the  summit,  and  they  supposed  at  first  that  they  saw  an 
enemy  before  them.  But  when  Xenophon  rode  up  to  ascer- 
tain the  cause,  the  first  shouts  that  struck  his  ear  were, 
"  The  sea,  the  sea ! "  The  glad  sound  ran  quickly  till  it 
reached  the  hindermost,  and  all  pressed  forward  to  enjoy 
the  cheering  sight.  The  Euxine  spread  its  waters  before 
their  eyes  ;  waters  which  rolled  on  the  shores  of  Greece,  and 
which  washed  the  walls  of  many  Greek  cities  on  the  nearest 
coast  of  Asia. 

2().  So  Eurylochus  went,  and  co.urades  twenty  and  two 
with  him.  And  in  an  oi)en  space  in  the  wood  they  found 
the  palace  of  Circe.  All  about  were  wolves  and  lions  ;  yet 
these  harmed  not  the  men,  but  stood  up  on  their  hind  legs, 
fawning  upon  them,  as  dogs  fawn  upon  their  master  when 
he  comes  from  liis  meal.  And  the  men  were  afraid.  And 
they  stood  in  the  porch  and  heard  the  voice  of  Circe  as  she 
sang  with  a  lovely  voice  and  plied  the  loom.  Then  said 
Polites,  "  Some  one  within  plies  a  great  loom  and  sings  with 
a  loud  voice.  Some  goddess  is  she  or  woman.  Let  us  make 
haste  and  call."  So  they  called  to  her,  and  she  came  out 
and  beckoned  to  them  that  they  should  follow.  So  they 
went  in  their  folly.     And  she  bade  them  sit  and  mixed  for 


EXERCISES.  55 

them  a  mess,  red  wine,  and  in  it  barley  meal  and  cheese  and 
honey,  and  mighty  drugs  Avithal,  of  which,  if  a  man  drank, 
he  forgot  all  that  he  loved.  And  when  they  had  drunk,  she 
smote  them  with  her  wand.  And  lo  !  they  had  of  a  sudden 
the  heads  and  the  voices  and  the  bristles  of  swine,  but  the 
heart  of  a  man  was  in  them  still.  And  Circe  shut  them  in 
sties,  and  gave  them  mast  and  acorns  and  cornel  to  eat. 
But  Eurylochus  fled  back  to  the  ship.  And  for  a  while  he 
could  not  speak,  so  full  was  his  heart  of  grief ;  but  at  the 
last  he  told  the  tale  of  what  had  befallen.  —  A.  J.  Church. 

27.  And  when  Ulysses  prayed  him  that  he  would  help 
him  on  his  way  homewards,  .Eolus  hearkened  to  him,  and 
gave  him  the  skin  of  an  ox,  in  which  he  had  bound  all  con- 
trary winds  so  that  they  should  not  hinder  him.  Bv;t  he 
let  a  gentle  west  wind  blow,  that  it  might  carry  him  and  his 
comrades  to  their  home.  For  nine  days  it  blew,  and  now 
they  were  near  to  Ithaca,  their  country,  so  that  they  saw 
lights  burning  in  it,  it  being  night  time.  But  now,  by  an 
ill  chance,  Ulysses  fell  asleep,  being  wholly  wearied  out,  for 
he  had  held  the  helm  for  nine  days,  nor  trusted  it  to  any  of 
his  comrades.  And  while  he  slept,  his  comrades,  who  had 
cast  eyes  of  envy  on  the  great  ox-hide,  said  one  to  another : 
"Strange  it  is  how  men  love  and  honor  this  Ulysses 
whithersoever  he  goes.  And  now  he  comes  back  from  Troy 
with  much  spoil,  but  we  with  empty  hands.  Let  us  see 
what  it  is  that  ^Eolus  hath  given,  for  doubtless  in  this  ox- 
hide is  much  silver  and  gold."  So  they  loosed  the  great 
bag  of  ox-hide,  and  lo  !  all  the  winds  rushed  out  and  carried 
them  far  away  from  their  country.  But  Ulysses,  waking 
with  the  tumult,  doubted  much  whether  he  should  not 
throw  himself  into  the  sea  and  so  die.  But  he  endured, 
thinking  it  better  to  live.  Only  he  veiled  his  face  and  so 
sat,  while  the  ships  drave  before  the  winds,  till  they  came 
once  more  to  the  island  of  ^olus.  —  A.  J.  Church. 

28.  Then  Ulysses  bade  his  comrades  be  of  good  courage ; 


56  EXERCISES. 

for  the  time  was  come  when  they  shoukl  be  delivered.  And 
they  thrust  the  stake  of  olive  wood  into  the  tire  till  it  was 
ready,  green  as  it  was,  to  burst  into  iiame,  and  they  thrust 
it  into  the  monster's  eye ;  for  he  had  but  one  eye,  and  that 
in  the  midst  of  his  forehead,  with  the  eyebrow  below  it. 
And  Ulysses  leaned  with  all  his  force  upon  the  stake  and 
thrust  it  in  with  might  and  main.  And  the  burning  wood 
hissed  in  the  eye,  just  as  the  red-hot  iron  hisses  in  the 
water  when  a  man  seeks  to  temper  steel  for  a  sword.  Then 
the  giant  leaped  up  and  tore  away  the  stake,  and  cried  aloud 
so  that  all  the  Cyclopes  who  dwelt  on  the  mountain  side 
heard  him  and  came  about  his  cave,  asking  him,  "What  ail- 
eth  thee,  Polyphemus,  that  thou  makest  this  uj)roar  in  the 
peaceful  night,  driving  away  sleep  ?  Is  any  one  robbing 
thee  of  thy  sheep,  or  seeking  to  slay  thee  by  craft  or 
force  ?  "  And  the  giant  answered,  "  No  Man  slays  me  by 
craft."  "Nay  but,"  they  said,  "if  no  man  does  thee  wrong, 
we  cannot  help  thee.  The  sickness  which  great  Zeu.s  may 
send,  who  can  avoid?  Pray  to  our  father,  Poseidon,  for 
help."  Then  they  departed;  and  Ulysses  was  glad  at  heart 
for  the  success  of  his  device,  when  he  said  that  he  was  No 
Man.  —  A.  J.  Church. 

29.  When  Herodotus  says  of  IMiltiades  that,  at  Marathon, 
he  suspected  that,  if  they  did  not  immediately  fight  a  deci- 
sive battle,  the  Athenians  might  change  their  minds  and  go 
over  to  the  Persians,  the  state  of  the  case  must  be  that  Mil- 
tiades  only  put  forth  this  suspicion  in  order  to  Avin  over  to 
his  side  the  polemarch  Callimachus,  who  was  undecided 
which  of  the  two  parties  among  the  generals  to  join.  For, 
when  the  Athenians  had  been  led  out  to  battle,  they  showed 
themselves  most  brave,  and  were  the  first  of  the  Greeks, 
as  Herodotus  himself  says,  who  held  out  against  the  Per- 
sians, whose  name  till  then  had  been  an  object  of  terror  to 
all.  They  gave  also  a  marked  example  of  their  valor  at  the 
battle  of  Platsea.     When  the  Greeks  had  drawn  themselves 


EXEECISES.  57 

up  in  battle  array  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Cithaeron,  and  would 
not  come  down  into  the  plain,  Mardonius  sent  all  his  cavalry 
against  them  under  the  leadership  of  Mastitius.  The  Me- 
gareans  happened  to  occupy  the  point  which  was  most  ex- 
posed to  the  attack  of  the  cavalry.  When  they  had  resisted 
a  little  while,  they  declared  that  they  could  not  longer  with- 
stand the  onslaught  of  the  enemy,  and  would  leave  the  field 
if  the  others  did  not  relieve  them.  As  soon  as  Pausanias 
learned  this,  he  put  the  Greeks  to  the  test  to  see  whether 
they  would  voluntarily  undertake  the  task.  Then,  while  all 
the  others  refused,  the  Athenians  undertook  to  go  to  the  aid 
of  the  Megareans,  and  three  hundred  were  chosen  from  their 
number  who  succeeded  in  putting  to  flight  the  hostile  cav- 
alry, and  reviving  the  courage  of  all  anew. 

30.  They  resolved,  however,  to  manage  the  matter  with 
poison,  which  Marcia  undertook  that  she  would  easily  give 
him.  For  she  was  accustomed  to  mix  and  hand  to  him  his 
first  cup,  that  the  draught  might  be  sweeter  as  coming  from 
his  lover's  hand.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  he  came  out  of  the 
bath,  she  handed  him  the  poison  mixed  with  the  most  per- 
fumed wine  in  a  cup.  He,  having  become  thirsty  from  long 
bathing  and  hunting,  drank  it  up  without  consideration, 
supposing  it  to  have  been  tasted  beforehand,  according  to 
custom ;  on  which  account,  being  directly  seized  with  a  pain 
in  the  head,  and  a  great  drowsiness  having  come  upon  him, 
he  immediately  sought  repose,  thinking  this  was  due  to  his 
exertions.  Electus,  however,  and  Marcia  ordered  all  per- 
sons directly  to  retire,  and  every  one  to  go  to  his  own  home, 
that  they  might  not  aw\aken  Commodus,  as  he  stood  in  need 
of  sleep.  On  other  occasions,  also,  this  had  often  happened 
in  consequence  of  his  excessive  drunkenness,  for  as  he 
spent  his  time  in  the  bath  or  at  the  table,  he  had  no  fixed 
time  of  rest.  For  pleasures,  following  in  quick  succession, 
and  very  different  from  one  another,  compel  men  to  serve 
them  at  any  time,  even  against  their  will.     After,  then,  he 


58  EXERCISES. 

had  rested  a  little  while,  and  by  this  time  the  force  of  the 
poison  had  begun  to  affect  his  stomach,  he  vomited  a  great 
deal ;  and  the  conspirators  began  to  fear  that,  when  he  had 
ejected  the  poison,  he  would  recover,  and  order  them  all  to 
be  slain  together.  Accordingly,  they  induced,  by  a  great 
bribe,  a  bold  and  powerful  young  man,  named  Narcissus,  to 
strangle  him  in  his  chamber. 

31.  Wise  men  have  often  remarked  that  opinions  should 
be  estimated  not  by  number,  but  by  weight ;  and  that  the 
judgment  of  one  single  man  of  worth  and  intelligence  ought 
to  be  more  highly  prized  than  that  of  the  inexperienced 
many  whom  to  satisfy  and  please  appeared  to  the  ancient 
musicians  a  i^roof  of  deficiency  in  artistic  skill.  Accord- 
ingly, we  are  told  that  Pericles,  when  he  saw  occasionally 
that  the  crowd  around  him  applauded  his  speech,  used  to 
fear  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and  that  he  must  have  said 
more  or  less  than  he  ought  to  have  said.  And  it  is  men- 
tioned with  commendation  of  Antinous  that,  when  all  except 
Plato  left  him  during  the  recitation  of  his  long  poem,  he 
observed,  "  I  will  go  on  reading  all  the  same,  for  one  Plato 
is  to  me  worth  many  thousands."  So,  too,  Cicero,  when  he 
could  persuade  Cato  only,  did  not  regard  the  opinions  of 
others.  "Our  Cato,"  says  he,  "who  by  himself  is  worth 
a  hundred  thousand  in  my  eyes."  And  in  another  place 
he  says  of  Peduca'us,  "  Only  read  it  to  Sextus,  and  send 
me  word  what  he  thinks  of  it  —  els  e'/Aot  fivpLoi."  As  it  is 
certain  that  those  Greek  words  are  taken  from  some  ancient 
writer,  — and  yet  no  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  shown  from 
whom,  —  I  consider  it  not  out  of  place  to  state  my  opinion 
on  the  subject.  I  conjecture,  then,  that  they  are  taken 
from  Democritus,  from  whom  Seneca  quotes  the  following 
remark :  "  One  is  in  my  eyes  as  the  j)eople,  and  the  people 
as  one." 

32.  I  went  down  to  the  Piraeus  yesterday  with  Glaueon, 
the  son  of  Ariston,  that  I  might  offer  up  a  prayer  to  the 


EXERCISES.  69 

goddess,  and  also  because  I  wanted  to  see  in  what  manner 
they  would  celebrate  the  festival  of  Bendis,  which  was  a 
new  thing.  I  was  delighted  with  the  procession  of  the 
inhabitants ;  this,  however,  was  equalled  or  even  exceeded 
in  beauty  by  that  of  the  Thracians.  When  we  had  finished 
our  prayers,  and  the  spectacle  was  over,  we  turned  in  the 
direction  of  the  city,  and  at  that  instant  Poleniarchus,  the 
son  of  Cephalus,  who  caught  sight  of  us  at  a  distance  as  we 
were  departing  homewards,  told  his  servant  to  run  and  bid 
us  wait  for  him.  The  servant  took  hold  of  me  by  the  cloak 
behind,  and  said,  ''  Polemarchus  desires  you  to  wait."  I 
turned  round,  and  asked  him  where  his  master  was.  "  He 
is  coming,"  said  the  youth,  "  if  you  will  only  wait."  "  Cer- 
tainly we  will,"  said  Glaucon ;  and  in  a  few  minutes  Pole- 
marchus appeared,  and  with  him  Adeimantus,  Glaucon's 
brother,  and  several  others  who  had  been  at  the  procession. 
Polemarchus  said  to  me,  "I  perceive,  Socrates,  that  you 
and  your  companions  are  already  on  your  way  to  the  city." 
"You  are  not  far  wrong,"  I  said.  "  P)ut  do  you  see,"  he 
rejoined,  "  how  many  we  are  ?  "  "  I  do."  "  And  are  you 
stronger  than  all  these  ?  For,  if  not,  you  will  have  to 
remain  where  you  are."  "May  there  not  be  yet  another 
possibiiit}^,"  I  said,  "  that  we  may  persuade  you  to  let  us 
go  ?  "  "  But  can  you  persuade  us  if  we  refuse  to  listen  to 
you  ?  "  he  said.  "  Of  course  not,"  replied  Glaucon.  "  Then 
we  are  not  going  to  listen,  of  that  you  may  be  assured." 

33.  Accordingly  we  went  with  Polemarchus  to  his  house, 
and  there  we  found  his  brothers  and  with  them  Thrasyma- 
chus  and  others.  There,  too,  was  their  father,  Cephalus, 
whom  I  had  not  seen  for  a  long  time,  and  I  thought  him 
very  much  aged.  He  was  seated  on  a  cushioned  chair, 
having  a  garland  on  his  head,  for  he  had  been  holding  a 
sacrifice  in  the  court ;  and  there  were  other  chairs  arranged 
in  a  circle  upon  which  we  sat  down  by  him.  He  welcomed 
me  eagerly  and  then  he  said  :     "  You  don't  come  to  see  me, 


60  EXERCISES. 

Socrates,  as  often  as  you  oiiglit ;  for  if  I  were  able  to  go 
to  you  I  would  not  ask  you  to  come  to  me.  But  at  my  age 
I  can  hardly  get  to  the  city,  and  therefore  you  ought  to 
come  oftener  to  the  Piraeus.  For,  indeed,  I  find  that  at 
my  time  of  life,  as  the  pleasures  and  delights  of  the  body 
fade  away,  the  love  of  discourse  grows  upon  me,  I  only 
wish  that  you  would  come  oftener,  and  be  Avith  your  young 
friends  here,  and  make  yourself  altogether  at  home  with 
us."  I  replied :  "  There  is  nothing  which  T  like  better, 
Cephalus,  than  conversing  with  aged  men  like  yourself; 
for  I  regard  them  as  travellers  who  have  gone  a  journey 
which  I  too  may  have  to  go,  and  of  whom  I  ought  to 
inquire,  whether  the  way  is  smooth  and  easy,  or  rugged  and 
difficult.  And  this  is  a  question  which  I  should  like  to  ask 
of  you  who  have  arrived  at  that  time  which  the  poets  call 
the  'threshold  of  old  age '  —  Is  life  harder  towards  the  end, 
or  what  report  do  you  give  of  it  ?  "  —  Jowett's  Plato. 

34.  If  the  poet  everywhere  appears,  and  never  conceals 
himself,  then  again  the  imitation  is  dropped,  and  his  poetry 
becomes  simple  narration.  However,  in  order  that  I  may 
make  my  meaning  quite  clear,  I  will  return  to  my  example. 
Suppose  that  Homer  had  said,  "The  priest  came,  having 
his  daughter's  ransom  in  his  hands,  the  suppliant  of  the 
Achaians,  and  above  all  of  the  kings  " ;  and  then,  instead  of 
sjicaking  in  the  person  of  Chryses,  suppose  that  he  had 
continued  in  his  own  person,  the  imitation  Avould  have 
passed  into  narration.  He  would  have  said,  "  Chryses  came 
and  prayed  the  gods  on  behalf  of  the  Greeks,  that  they 
might  take  Troy  and  return  in  peace  if  Agamemnon  would 
only  give  him  l)ack  his  daughter,  taking  the  ransom  and 
reverencing  the  gods.  Thus  ho  spoke,  and  the  other  Greeks 
respected  him  and  consented.  But  Agamemnon  was  wroth, 
and  bade  him  depart  and  not  come  again,  lest  the  sceptre 
and  crown  of  the  god  should  be  of  no  avail  to  him.  The 
daughter  of  Chryses,  he  said,  should  not  be  released  until 


EXERCISES.  61 

she  had  first  grown  old  with  him  in  Argos.  And  then  he 
told  him  to  go  away,  and  not  to  provoke  him,  if  he  intended 
to  get  home  safely.  And  the  old  man  went  away  in  fear 
and  silence,  and,  having  left  the  camp,  he  called  upon 
Apollo  by  his  many  names,  reminding  him  of  everything 
Avhich  he  had  done  pleasing  to  him,  whether  in  buiPding  his 
temples  or  in  offering  sacrifice,  and  praying  that  his  good 
deeds  might  be  returned  to  him,  and  that  the  Acha^ans 
might  expiate  his  tears  by  the  arrows  of  the  god."  And  so 
on.     In  this  way  the  whole  becomes  narrative.  —  Ibid. 

35.  "Therefore,  as  I  was  just  now  saying,  we  must 
inquire  who  are  the  best  guardians  of  their  own  conviction 
that  the  interest  of  the  state  is  to  be  the  rule  of  all  their 
actions.  We  must  watch  them  from  their  youth  upwards, 
and  make  them  perform  actions  in  which  they  are  most 
likely  to  forget  or  to  be  deceived,  and  he  who  remembers 
and  is  not  deceived  is  to  be  selected,  and  he  who  fails  in 
the  trial  is  to  be  rejected.  That  will  be  the  way  ? " 
"Yes."  "And  there  should  also  be  toils  and  pains  and 
conflicts  prescribed  for  them  in  which  they  will  give  fur- 
ther proof  of  the  same  qualities."  "Very  right,"  he 
replied.  "And  then,"  I  said,  "we  must  try  them  with 
enchantments,  that  is  the  third  sort  of  test,  and  see  what 
will  be  their  behavior.  Like  those  who  take  colts  amid 
noises  and  cries  to  see  if  they  are  of  a  timid  nature,  so  we 
must  take  our  youth  amid  terrors  of  some  kind,  and  again 
pass  them  into  pleasures,  and  try  them  more  thoroughly  than 
gold  is  tried  in  the  fire.  And  he  who,  at  every  age  as  boy  and 
youth  and  in  mature  life  has  come  out  of  the  trial  victorious 
and  pure,  shall  be  appointed  a  ruler  and  guardian  of  the  state. 
He  shall  be  honored  in  life  and  death,  and  shall  receive  sepul- 
ture and  other  memorials  of  honor,  the  greatest  that  we  have 
to  give.  Him  we  must  choose,  and  reject  the  opposite  of 
him.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  is  the  sort  of  way  in 
which  our  rulers  and  guardians  should  be  appointed." 


62  EXERCISES. 

3G.  Last  night,  or  r;itlier  very  early  this  morning,  Hip- 
pocrates, the  son  of  Appollodorus,  and  the  brother  of  Pha- 
son,  gave  a  tremendous  thump  with  his  staff  at  my  door. 
Some  one  opened  to  him,  and  he  came  rushing  in,  and  bawled 
out,  "  Socrates,  are  you  awake  or  asleep  ?  "  I  knew  his  voice, 
and  said,  "  Hippocrates,  is  that  you  ?  and  do  you  bring  any 
news  ? "  "  Good  news,"  he  said ;  "  nothing  Init  good." 
"Very  good,  but  what  news,  and  why  have  you  come 
hither  at  this  unearthly  hour  ? "  He  drew  nearer  to  me 
and  said,  "  Protagoras  is  come."  "  Yes,"  I  replied  ;  "  he 
came  two  days  ago ;  have  you  only  just  heard  of  his 
arrival  ?  "  "  Yes,  by  the  gods,"  lie  said  ;  "  I  heard  yesterday 
evening."  At  the  same  time  he  felt  for  the  truckle-bed,  and 
sat  down  at  my  feet,  and  then  he  said :  "  Yesterday,  quite 
late  in  the  evening,  on  my  return  from  CEnoe,  whither  I 
had  gone  in  pursuit  of  my  runaway  slave  Satyrus,  of  whose 
escape  I  meant  to  have  told  you,  if  some  other  matter  had 
not  come  in  the  way  —  on  my  return,  when  we  had  done 
supper  and  were  about  to  retire  to  rest,  my  brother  said  to 
me  :  'Protagoras  is  come.'  I  was  going  to  you  at  once,  and 
then  I  thought  that  the  night  was  far  spent.  But  the  mo- 
ment sleep  left  me  after  my  toil,  I  got  up  and  came  hither 
direct."  I,  who  knew  the  very  courageous  madness  of  the 
man,  said :  "  What  is  the  matter  ?  Has  Protagoras  robbed 
you  of  anything?"  He  replied,  laughing:  "Yes,  indeed 
he  has,  Socrates  ;  of  the  wisdom  which  he  keeps  to  himself." 
"  But  surely,"  I  said,  "  if  you  give  him  money,  and  make 
friends  with  him,  he  will  make  you  as  wise  as  he  is  him- 
self." "Would  to  heaven,"  he  replied,  "that  he  would! 
He  might  take  all  that  I  have,  and  all  that  my  friends 
have,  if  he  would."  —  Jowett's  Plato. 

37.  Soc7r(tes.  —  15ut  let  me  ask  you,  friend,  have  we  not 
reached  the  plane-tree  to  which  you  were  conducting  us  ? 
Phoidrus.  —  Yes,  here  is  the  tree.  Socrates.  —  Yes,  indeed, 
and  a  fair  and  shady  resting-place,  full  of  summer  sounds 


EXERCISES.  63 

and  scents.  There  is  the  lofty  and  spreading  plane-tree, 
and  the  agnus-castus,  high  and  clustering  in  the  fullest 
blossom  and  the  greatest  fragrance ;  and  the  stream  which 
flows  beneath  the  plane-tree  is  deliciously  cold  to  the  feet. 
Judging  from  the  ornaments  and  images,  this  must  be  a 
spot  sacred  to  Achelous  and  the  Xymphs  ;  moreover,  there 
is  a  sweet  breeze,  and  the  grasshoppers  chirrup ;  and  the 
greatest  charm  of  all  is  the  grass,  like  a  pillow,  gently  slop- 
ing to  the  beach.  My  dear  Phaedrus,  you  have  been  an 
admirable  guide.  Phcedrus.  —  I  always  wonder  at  you,  Soc- 
rates ;  for  when  you  are  in  the  country,  you  really  are  like 
a  stranger  who  is  being  led  about  by  a  guide.  Do  you  ever 
cross  the  border  ?  I  rather  think  that  you  never  venture 
even  outside  the  gates.  Socrates.  —  Very  true,  my  good 
friend ;  and  I  hope  that  you  will  excuse  me  when  you  hear 
the  reason,  which  is,  that  I  am  a  lover  of  knowledge,  and 
the  men  who  dwell  in  the  city  are  my  teachers,  and  not  the 
trees  or  the  country.  Though  I  do  indeed  believe  that  you 
have  found  a  spell  with  which  to  draw  me  out  of  the  city 
into  the  country,  as  hungry  cows  are  led  by  waving  before 
them  a  bough  or  a  fruit.  For  only  hold  up  in  like  manner 
a  book  before  me,  and  you  may  lead  me  all  round  Attica, 
and  over  the  wide  worlil.  And  now  having  arrived,  I  in- 
tend to  lie  down,  and  do  you  choose  any  posture  in  which 
you  can  read  best.     Begin. — J owett^s  Plato. 

38.  Phocion,  of  whom  we  read  in  Cornelius  Nepos  that 
he  refused  a  great  sum  of  money  which  had  been  offered 
him  by  Philip,  king  of  Macedonia,  in  order  not  to  have  the 
appearance  of  preferring  the  friendship  of  a  foreign  king  to 
the  freedom  of  his  country,  maintained  the  same  demeanor 
also  toward  his  son,  Alexander.  Por,  when  he  sent  him  a 
hundred  talents  as  a  present,  Phocion  asked  those  who 
had  brought  the  money  why  Alexander  sent  him  alone 
presents  of  all  the  numerous  Athenians.  When  they  an- 
swered that  he  alone  seemed  to  Alexander  to  be  an  upright 


64  EXERCISES. 

and  honorable  man,  lie  said,  "  Then  let  the  king  suffer  me 
to  be  one  and  to  count  for  such."  The  ambassadors,  how- 
ever, persisted ;  but  he  said :  "  If  I  should  take  this  money 
which  you  offer  me  and  not  use  it,  this  great  treasure  would 
have  come  into  my  hands  in  vain,  and  I  should  make  a  bad 
repvitation  for  myself  and  Alexander  among  the  Atheni- 
ans." So  the  money  was  taken  back  to  Alexander  in  Asia. 
But  he  was  displeased  that  his  present  had  been  scorned 
by  Phocion,  and  wrote  to  him  that  he  did  not  regard  as 
friends  people  who  would  accept  nothing  from  him.  At 
the  same  time  he  offered  him  the  money  anew,  and  named 
four  cities  of  Asia  of  which  he  might  choose  one  at  will 
to  receive  the  revenue  from.  Phocion,  however,  woiild  not 
accept  this  offer  either ;  but,  in  order  not  to  seem  to  scorn 
Alexander's  generosity,  he  begged  the  king  to  set  free  four 
Athenians  who  were  kept  in  chains  in  the  citadel  of  Sardis, 
and  Alexander  immediately  gave  orders  that  they  should  be 
released. 

39.  The  sway  of  Periander,  on  the  other  hand,  is  univer- 
sally condemned  as  oppressive  and  cruel.  Many  of  the  tales 
related  of  him  may  be  regarded  as  the  calumnies  of  his 
enemies ;  but  there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  he 
ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron.  The  way  in  which  he  treated  the 
nobles  is  illustrated  by  a  well-known  tale  which  has  been 
transferred  to  the  early  history  of  Eome.  Soon  after  his 
accession,  Periander  is  said  to  have  sent  to  Thrasybulus, 
despot  of  Miletus,  for  advice  as  to  the  best  mode  of  main- 
taining his  power.  Without  giving  an  answer  in  writing, 
Thrasybulus  led  the  messenger  through  a  cornfield,  cutting 
off,  as  he  went,  the  tallest  ears  of  corn.  He  then  dismissed 
the  messenger,  telling  him  to  inform  his  master  how  he  had 
found  him  employed.  The  action  was  rightly  interpreted 
by  Periander,  who  proceeded  to  rid  himself  of  the  powerful 
nobles  of  the  state.  The  anecdote,  whether  true  or  not,  is 
an  indication  of  the  common  opinion  entertained  of  the  gov- 


EXERCISES.  65 

ernmeut  of  Periancler.  We  are  further  told  that  he  pro- 
tected liis  person  by  a  body-guard  of  mercenaries,  and  kept 
all  rebellion  in  cheek  by  his  rigorous  measures.  It  is  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands  that  he  possessed  great  ability  and  mil- 
itary skill ;  and,  however  oppressive  his  government  may 
have  been  to  the  citizens  of  Corinth,  he  raised  the  city  to  a 
state  of  great  prosperity  and  power,  and  made  it  respected 
alike  by  friends  and  foes.  —  Smith's  Greece. 

40.  "  But  that  you  may  feel  the  greater  enthusiasm  for 
protecting  the  State,  be  assured  of  this,  — that  all  who  have 
helped  save,  aided,  or  advanced  their  country,  have  a  partic- 
ular place  appointed  in  heaven,  where  they  enjoy  happiness 
and  life  everlasting.  For  there  is  nothing  which  takes 
place  iipon  the  earth  more  acceptable  to  the  chief  god  who 
rnles  over  all  the  universe  than  the  associations  and  unions 
of  men  allied  together  by  law,  which  are  called  States  ;  and 
the  rulers  and  preservers  of  these  States  have  their  begin- 
ning in  him  and  return  to  him." 

Then  though  greatly  alarmed,  not  so  much  by  the  fear  of 
death  as  by  fear  of  treachery  at  the  hands  of  my  friends, 
I  yet  asked  whether  he  and  Paulus,  my  father,  and  the 
others  Avhoin  we  think  destroyed,  lived.  ''Yea,  verily," 
said  he,  "  they  do  live ;  for  they  have  flown  from  the  bonds 
of  the  body  as  from  prison,  but  that  so-called  life  of  yours 
is  death.  Look,  there  is  your  father  Paulus  coming  towards 
you."  When  I  saw  him,  I  poured  out  a  flood  of  tears,  but 
he  embraced  and  kissed  me  and  bade  me  not  to  weep. 

And  when  I  could  keep  back  my  tears,  and  regain  the 
power  of  speech,  I  said :  "  Pray,  father,  most  holy  and  good, 
since  this  is  life,  as  Africanus  just  tells  me,  why  do  I  tarry 
on  this  earth  ?  Why  do  I  not  hasten  to  come  here  to 
you  ?  "  "  It  is  not  so  ordered,"  said  he.  "  For  unless  the 
god,  whose  temple  all  this  space  is  which  you  see,  shall  free 
you  from  that  guard  duty  of  the  body,  there  can  be  no  way 
hither  open  to  you."  —  Cicero,  Republic  vi.  13, 


66  EXERCISES. 

41.  Now  the  following  speech  of  Atreus's  is  exceedingly 
absurd :  '•  Let  him  not  have  a  tomb  to  receive  him,  a  haven 
for  the  body,  where,  when  the  cord  of  life  has  been  loosed, 
the  body  may  have  rest  from  its  ills."  You  see  in  what 
error  these  opinions  are  involved.  Atreus  thinks  that  there 
is  a  haven  for  the  body,  and  that  the  dead  man  rests  in  the ' 
tomb.  This  was  chiefly  the  fault  of  Pelops,  who  did  not 
instruct  his  son  nor  teach  him  the  proper  relations  of 
things. 

But  why  should  I  notice  the  opinions  of  individuals  when 
we  may  examine  the  different  errors  of  nations  ?  The 
Egyptians  preserve  their  dead  and  keep  them  in  their 
homes  ;  the  Persians  even  embalm  them  with  wax,  that 
their  bodies  may  last  as  long  a  time  as  possible ;  the  custom 
of  the  Magians  is  not  to  bury  the  bodies  of  their  people 
until  they  have  been  first  torn  by  wild  beasts.  In  Hyrcania 
the  common  people  keep  dogs  at  the  general  expense,  the 
higher  classes  do  so  at  their  own.  We  know  that  that  breed 
of  dogs  is  famous,  but  the  object  of  the  custom  is  that  each 
man,  according  to  his  means,  shall  provide  beasts  to  mangle 
his  corpse,  and  this,  those  people  think  is  the  best  burial. 
Many  other  instances  are  gathered  by  Chrysippus,  an  en- 
thusiastic investigator  of  all  historical  subjects,  but  some  of 
them  are  so  disgusting  that  one  shudders  to  put  them  into 
words.  The  whole  matter  ought  to  be  despised  in  our  own 
case,  but  not  disregarded  in  the  case  of  our  friends ;  but, 
how  much  concession  must  be  made  to  fashion  and  to  what 
men  will  think,  the  living  must  arrange,  understanding  that 
it  is  of  no  concern  to  the  dead.  —  Cic.  Tusc.  i.  44. 

42.  They  say  that  Pythagoras  once  visited  Phlius,  and 
held  some  learned  and  exhaustive  discussions  with  Leon, 
the  chief  man  among  the  Phliasians,  and  that  Leon,  having 
expressed  his  admiration  of  his  ability  and  eloquence,  asked 
him  on  what  art  he  chiefly  relied.  But  he  said  that  he 
knew  no  art,  but  was  a  philosopher.     Leon,  so  the  story 


EXERCISES.  67 

goes,  wondered  at  the  name,  which  was  new  to  him,  and 
asked  what  philosophers  were,  and  what  difference  there 
was  between  them  and  other  people ;  and  Pythagoras  an- 
swered that  he  considered  the  life  of  man  like  the  fair 
which  was  held  at  the  great  festival  of  the  games,  and  was 
attended  by  crowds  from  all  parts  of  Greece.  For  as  there 
some  aimed  at  glory  and  the  distinction  of  the  victor's 
wreath  by  athletic  excellence,  and  others  were  attracted  by 
the  opportunity  for  buying  and  selling  and  money-getting, 
while  there  was  a  class  —  and  that  perhaps  the  highest- 
toned —  who  sought  neither  applause  nor  gain,  but  went  to 
look  on,  and  diligently  watched  what  was  being  done  and 
how ;  so  we  too,  like  men  coming  from  some  city  to  the 
crowd  at  the  fair,  had  come  into  this  life  from  another  life 
and  condition,  and  some  were  the  slaves  of  glory,  others  of 
money,  while  there  were  some  few,  who,  counting  all  else 
as  naught,  diligently  contemplated  the  u.ni verse.  These  he 
called  seekers  after  wisdom,  that  is,  of  course,  philosophers ; 
and  he  maintained  that  as  at  the  fair,  the  most  dignified 
thing  was  to  look  on,  getting  nothing  for  one's  self,  so  in 
life  the  contemplation  and  investigation  of  things  far  sur- 
passed all  other  pursuits.  —  Cic.  Tusc.  v.  3. 

43.  None  but  those  who,  like  myself,  have  once  lived  in 
intellectual  society,  and  have  then  been  deprived  of  it  for 
years,  can  appreciate  the  delight  of  finding  it  again.  Not 
that  I  have  any  right  to  complain,  if  I  were  fated  to  live  as 
a  recluse  forever.  I  can  add  little,  or  nothing,  to  the  pleas- 
ure of  any  company ;  I  like  to  listen  rather  than  to  talk ; 
and  when  anything  apposite  does  occu^r  to  me,  it  is  gener- 
ally the  day  after  the  conversation  has  taken  place.  I  do 
not,  however,  love  good  talk  the  less  for  these  defects  of 
mine;  and  I  console  myself  with  thinking  that  I  sustain 
the  part  of  a  judicious  listener,  not  always  an  easy  one. 
Great  then  was  my  delight  at  hearing  last  year,  that  my  old 
pupil,  Milverton,  had  taken  a  house  which  had  long  been 


68  EXERCISES. 

vacant  in  our  ueigliborliood.  To  add  to  my  pleasure,  his 
college-friend,  Ellesmere,  the  great  lawyer,  also  an  old  pupil 
of  mine,  came  to  us  frequently  in  the  course  of  the  autumn. 
Milverton  was  at  that  time  writing  some  essays  which  he 
occasionally  read  to  Ellesmere  and  myself.  The  conversa- 
tions which  then  took  place  I  am  proud  to  say  that  I  have 
chronicled.  I  think  they  must  be  interesting  to  the  world 
in  general,  though  of  course  not  so  much  as  to  me. 

44.  There  is  a  common  belief,  which  perhaps  is  just,  that 
there  is  not  so  much  friendship  in  the  world  as  there  used 
to  be.  Various  causes  have  been  assigned  for  this,  —  that 
men  are  less  heroic,  more  querulous,  more  seliish,  more 
domestic.  In  my  opinon  the  real  cause  is  want  of  time. 
And  it  must  be  remarked  that  to  keep  up  friendship,  it  is 
not  sufficient  to  have  spare  time  now  and  then ;  but  you 
require  an  amount  of  certain  and  continuous  leisure.  Ob- 
serve under  what  conditions  of  life  friendship  has  had  the 
greatest  sway,  and  has  been  most  prominently  developed. 
There  are  still  great  friendships  among  boys  at  school  and 
young  men  at  college.  There  have  been  great  friendships 
in  comparatively  barbaric  times,  for  barbarism  almost  en- 
sures a  certain  continuity  of  leisure.  What  we  call  civili- 
zation has,  up  to  the  present  time,  made  increasing  demands 
upon  each  man's  time.  Should  tliis  civilization  ever  be  a 
prosperous  and  successful  thing,  it  will  give  an  assured  con- 
tinuity of  leisure,  and  then  you  will  see  that  friendship  Avill 
revive  amongst  men.  As  an  illustration  of  what  I  mean,  I 
have  no  doubt  that  benevolent  persons  must  in  general  have  | 
a  large  capacity  for  friendship ;  but  the  evils  of  the  world 
are  so  great  that  their  attention  is  absorbed  in  the  endeavor 
to  mitigate  those  evils.  Then,  again,  the  monstrous  size  of 
great  cities  in  our  age  tends  to  diminish  the  possibility  of 
maintaining  close  friendshi}).  All  I  would  contend  is,  that 
men  and  women  have  the  same  capacity  for  friendship,  the 
same  deliglit  in  it,  the  same  craving  for  it  as  heretofore; 


EXERCISES.  69 

but  that  an  imperfect  civilization  has  rendered  the  mani- 
festation, and  even  the  reality,  of  friendship  more  difficult, 
principally  as  regards  the  want  of  certain  and  continuous 
leisure.  —  Arthur  Helps,  Brevia. 

45.  At  first  it  surprises  one  that  love  should  be  made  the 
principal  staple  of  all  the  best  kinds  of  fiction ;  and  perhaps 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  is  only  one  kind  of  love  that  is 
chiefly  depicted  in  works  of  fiction.  But  that  love  itself  is 
the  most  remarkable  thing  in  human  life,  there  cannot  be 
the  slightest  doubt.  For,  see  what  it  will  conquer.  It  is  not 
only  that  it  prevails  over  selfishness  ;  but  it  has  the  victory 
over  weariness,  tiresomeness,  and  familiarity.  When  you 
are  with  the  person  loved,  you  have  no  sense  of  being  bored. 
This  humble  and  trivial  circumstance  is  the  great  test,  the 
only  sure  and  abiding  test,  of  love.  With  the  persons  you 
do  not  love,  you  are  never  supremely  at  your  ease.  In  con- 
versation with  them,  however  much  you  admire  them  and 
are  interested  in  them,  the  horrid  idea  will  cross  your  mind 
of  "  What  shall  I  say  next  ?  "  Converse  with  them  is  not 
perfect  association.  But  with  those  you  love  the  satisfac- 
tion in  their  presence  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  relation  of 
the  heavenly  bodies  to  one  another,  which,  in  their  silent 
revolutions,  lose  none  of  their  attractive  power.  The  sun 
does  not  talk  to  the  world ;  but  it  attracts  it. —  Ihid. 

46.  To  listen  well  is  a  most  rare  accomplishment.  In- 
deed, it  is  a  thing  beyond  an  accomplishment.  It  takes  a 
great  man  to  make  a  good  listener.  This  is  a  bold  saying, 
but  I  believe  it  is  true.  The  ordinary  hindrances  to  good 
listening  are  very  considerable,  such  as  the  desire  to  talk 
one's  self,  the  proneness  to  interrupt,  the  inaccuracy,  if  one 
may  use  such  an  expression,  of  most  men  in  listening.  But 
there  is  something  which  prevents  good  listening  in  a  much 
more  subtle  way,  and  to  a  much  more  dangerous  extent, 
than  any  of  the  above-named  hindrances.  It  is  this  :  As 
soon  as  you  begin  to  give  utterance  to  some  sentiment  or 


70  EXERCISES. 

opinion,  narrate  some  story,  declare  some  fact,  you  -will  find 
that  your  hearer,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  strikes  at  once  a 
mental  attitude  in  reference  to  what  you  say.  He  receives 
it  as  a  friend,  or  as  a  foe,  or  as  a  critic,  or  as  an  advocate,  or 
as  a  judge.  Now  all  these  characters  may  afterwards  be 
fairly  taken  up ;  but  the  first  thing  is  to  listen,  if  I  may  say 
so,  out  of  character  —  to  be  a  bond  fide  listener,  and  nothing 
more.  This  requires  some  of  the  simplicity  of  greatness. 
It  indicates  the  existence,  too,  of  that  respect  which  really 
great  men  have  for  other  men,  and  for  truth.  In  short,  I 
maintain  that  it  takes  a  great  man  to  make  a  good  listener. 
47.  In  a  recent  novel  by  a  late  prime  minister  there  is 
the  following  account  given  of  critics.  "'To-morrow,'  he 
said,  '  the  critics  will  commence.  You  know  who  the  critics 
are?  The  men  who  have  failed  in  literature  and  art.'" 
This  is  very  droll,  and  very  witty,  but  it  is  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  truth.  The  critics  may  be  classified  under 
three  heads.  1.  There  are  those  who  are  too  timid  or 
too  fastidious  to  do  anything  themselves,  —  men,  perhaps, 
of  considerable  ability,  —  and  they  naturally  find  an  exer- 
cise for  their  abilities  in  criticising  the  works  of  others. 
2.  There  are  the  born  critics,  men  whose  highest  powers 
naturally  take  the  form  of  criticism.  3.  There  are  the  pro- 
fessional critics  who  take  up  criticism  as  they  would  any 
other  occupation  which  procures  them  a  tolerably  easy  live- 
lihood. The  doers  are  very  averse  from  criticising;  and,  as 
they  are  the  only  persons  who  could  criticise  consummately, 
criticism  is  in  general  the  worst-done  thing  in  the  world. 
Occasionally  a  great  doer  takes  up  the  part  of  a  narrator  or 
a  critic;  and  then  this  work  is  admirably  done.  For  in- 
stance, a  great  commander  or  a  skilful  soldier  narrates,  or 
criticises,  his  own  campaigns  or  the  campaigns  of  others  ;  and 
then  you  have  a  remarkable  work.  But,  for  the  most  part, 
criticism  lacks  that  which  should  give  it  the  greatest  charm, 
the  most  assiired  insight,  and  the  profoundest  usefulness, 
namely,  the  knowledge  which  can  only  be  elicited  by  action. 


EXERCISES.  71 

48.  The  popular  party  was  no  longer  headed  by  Diocles. 
We  do  not  know  the  exact  time  or  occasion  of  his  death, 
but  the  circumstances  attending  it  are  most  remarkable. 
One  of  the  laws  of  his  code  had  denounced  the  penalty  of 
death  against  any  man  who  came  into  the  market-place 
armed.  This  was  especially  directed,  no  doubt,  against  the 
aristocratical  party,  who  were  apt  to  resort  to  violence  in 
order  to  break  up  or  intimidate  the  assemblies  of  the  people, 
or  to  revenge  themselves  on  any  of  the  more  obnoxious 
popular  leaders.  It  happened  that  Diocles  had  marched  out 
of  the  city  on  an  alarm  of  some  hostile  inroad, —  perhaps 
that  very  attempt  of  Hermocrates  to  get  back  to  Syracuse 
by  force,  which  has  been  already  noticed.  But  he  was  sud- 
denly recalled  by  the  news  that  the  enemy  were  in  the  city, 
and,  armed  as  he  was,  he  hastened  back  to  meet  them,  and 
found  them  already  in  possession  of  the  market-place.  A 
private  citizen,  most  probably  after  the  fray  was  over,  when 
the  death  of  so  eminent  a  citizen  as  Hermocrates  would  be 
deeply  felt,  even  by  many  of  his  political  adversaries,  called 
out  to  Diocles,  in  allusion  to  his  having  appeared  in  arms  in 
the  market-place,  "  Ah,  Diocles,  thou  art  making  void  thine 
own  laws  ! "  "  Nay,  rather,"  was  his  reply,  "  I  will  ratify 
them  thus  "  ;  and  he  instantly  stabbed  himself  to  the  heart. 
Such  a  spirit,  so  sincere,  and  so  self-devoted,  might  well 
have  been  the  founder  of  freedom  and  of  legal  order  for  his 
country,  and  saved  her,  had  his  life  been  prolonged,  from 
the  selfish  ambition  of  Dionysius.  —  Arnold's  Rome. 

49.  Diogenes  asked  Plato  for  a  glass  of  wine,  and  he 
presently  sent  him  a  gallon.  When  next  Diogenes  met 
him,  he  said  to  him,  "I  asked  you  how  many  were  two  and 
two,  and  you  have  answered  twenty."  There  are  some  of 
so  noble  a  disposition,  that,  like  trees  of  ripe  fruit,  by  de- 
grees they  drop  away  all  that  they  have  ;  they  would  even 
outdo  the  demands  of  all  their  friends,  and  would  give  as  if 
they  were  gods  that  could  not  be  exhausted  ;  'they  look  not 


72  EXERCISES. 

SO  mucli  either  at  the  merit  of  others,  or  their  own  ability, 
as  at  the  satisfaction  to  themselves  from  their  own  bounty. 
I  find  not  a  higher  genius  in  this  way  than  glowed  in  the 
victorious  Alexander.  He  warred  as  if  he  coveted  all  things, 
and  gave  away  as  if  he  cared  for  nothing.  You  would 
think  he  did  not  conquer  for  himself,  but  his  friends  ;  and 
that  he  took  only  that  he  might  have  wherewith  to  give  ; 
so  that  one  might  well  conclude  the  world  itself  was  too 
little  for  either  his  ambition  or  his  bounty.  When  Perillus 
begged  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  give  him  a  portion  for 
his  daughters,  he  immediately  commanded  him  fifty  tal- 
ents. The  modest  beggar  told  him  ten  would  be  enough. 
To  which  the  prince  replied,  "Though  it  might  be  enough 
for  him  to  receive,  yet  it  was  not  enough  for  himself  to 
bestow." 

50.  My  just  grief  was  increased  by  my  inability  to  assist 
or  advise  you  in  so  great  a  danger.  What  was  I  to  do  ? 
Write  to  your  adversaries,  and  bid  them  desist  from  their 
animosity  ?  as  if  they,  who  had  not  spared  an  innocent  man 
himself,  would  spare  the  advocate  of  innocence.  What 
then  ?  Could  I  throw  off  all  shame  and  console  such  a  great 
philosopher  as  you  ?  Accordingly,  my  dear  Caselius,  after  I 
had  received  your  first  letter  from  .vhich  T  learnt  in  how 
great  a  war  you  were  involved,  I  was  especially  vexed  that 
I  had  nothing  to  assist  you  with  except  my  good  will.  But 
it  is  fortunate  that  a  merciful  God  has  at  once  consulted  for 
your  innocence  and  my  anxiety,  and  made  the  way  plain  for 
both  of  us  by  enabling  you  to  conquer-  and  me  to  congratu- 
late you.  I  do,  therefore,  congratulate  you ;  first,  because 
you  have  prevailed,  not  by  those  means  by  which  you  might 
have  conquered  had  you  wished,  —  I  mean  your  eloquence 
and  abilities,  —  but  by  those  in  which  you  were  strongest, 
—  the  confidence  of  innocence  and  the  goodness  of  your 
cause;  then,  because  your  trial  came  off  before  a  most 
illustrious  prince  —  and  what  could  be  more  honorable  to  you 


EXERCISES.  73 

than  this  ?  I,  for  my  part,  would  not  take  heaps  of  gold,  if 
such  a  price  were  to  buy  me  off  from  danger,  when  I  might 
have  him  for  my  judge  wlio  is  able  by  his  wisdom  to  extract 
the  truth,  by  his  humanity  to  defend  innocence,  by  his 
authority  to  drive  away  slander. 

■  51.  I  add  this  also,  and  I  think  it  very  much  to  the  point, 
that  Burke,  whatever  he  was  doing,  or  wherever  he  turned 
himself  in  his  mind  and  in  his  thoughts,  always  seemed  to 
have  attained  a  knowledge  of  his  subject,  and  to  have  writ- 
ten most  admirably  and  most  beautifully  on  almost  every 
topic  which  is  connected  with  belles-lettres.  There  are, 
however,  some  who  think  that  the  practice  of  eloquence 
ought  to  be  kept  distinct  from  the  study  of  polite  literature, 
and  be  limited  to  the  exercise  of  a  man's  natural  genius 
aided  by  a  little  experience.  The  natural  eloquence  of 
Burke,  admirable  as  it  is,  has  been  aided  by  a  most  careful 
education  and  by  a  long  and  laborious  course  of  study.  No 
doubt  he  took  pains  to  have  his  mind  thoroughly  imbued 
with  Greek  and  Latin  literature,  because  he  found  therein 
the  proper  and,  if  I  may  so  say,  the  legitimate  ornaments 
of  oratory,  and  because  classical  learning  almost  insensibly 
produces  the  habit  of  speaking  English  in  a  classical  man- 
ner. Demosthenes  is  said  to  have  frequently  read  Plato,  and 
even  to  have  been  one  of  his  hearers ;  indeed,  a  very  grave 
authority,  M.  Cicero,  maintains  that  this  appears  from  the 
style  and  sublimity  of  his  speeches.  As  for  Burke,  how 
consummate  a  scholar  he  is,  is  sufficiently  plain  from  those 
speeches  of  his  in  which  all  learned  men  will  at  once  recog- 
nize a  more  studied  and  elaborate  style  of  oratory.  While 
he  was  still  a  very  young  man,  his  genius,  like  a  statue  of 
Phidias,  was  no  sooner  seen  than  admitted. 

52.  When  Dorcis  arrived  he  found  that  the  allies  had 
transferred  the  command  of  the  fleet  to  the  Athenians. 
There  were  other  reasons  for  this  step  besides  the  disgust 
occasioned  by  the  conduct  of  Pausanias.     Even  before  the 


74  EXERCISES. 

battle  of  Salamis  the  preponderating  power  of  Athens  had 
raised  the  question  whether  she  was  not  entitled  to  the 
command  at  sea,  .and  the  victory  gained  there  under  the 
auspices  of  Themistocles  had  strengthened  her  claim  to  that 
distinction.  But  the  delivery  of  the  Ionian  colonies  from  the 
Persian  yoke  was  the  immediate  cause  of  her  attaining  it^ 
The  loniaus  were  not  only  attracted  to  Athens  by  affinity  of 
race,  but  from  her  naval  superiority  regarded  her  as  the 
only  power  capable  of  securing  them  in  their  newly  acquired 
independence.  Disgusted  by  the  insolence  of  Pausanias, 
the  lonians  now  serving  in  the  combined  Grecian  fleet  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  Aristides  and  Cimon,  whose  manners 
formed  a  striking  contrast  to  those  of  the  Spartan  leader, 
and  begged  them  to  assume  the  command.  Aristides  was 
the  more  inclined  to  listen  to  this  request  as  it  was  made 
precisely  at  the  time  when  Pausanias  was  recalled.  The 
Spartan  squadron  had  accompanied  him  home,  so  that 
when  Dorcis  arrived  with  a  few  shi})S  he  found  himself  in 
no  condition  to  assert  his  pretensions.  This  event  was  not 
a  mere  empty  question  about  a  point  of  honor.  It  was  a 
real  revolution  terminated  by  a  solemn  league,  of  which 
Athens  was  to  be  the  head ;  and  though  it  is  wrong  to  date 
the  Athenian  empire  from  this  period,  yet  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  this  confederacy  formed  the  first  step  towards  it. 
o.').  Here,  however,  I  fear  lest  all  the  admirers  of  Horace 
should  agree  in  controverting  us,  and  that,  too,  somewhat 
sharply,  for  excluding  that  most  elegant  poet  from  the  num- 
ber of  those  whom  we  call  tlie  chiefs  of  poetry.  But  if,  in 
a  question  of  that  kind,  the  pleasure  derived  by  those  who 
read  poetry  for  amusement's  sake  were  the  first  thing  to  be 
considered,  who  would  not  gladly  concede  to  Flaccus  the 
highest,  or,  at  any  rate,  all  but  the  highest  place,  as  being 
certainly  the  merriest  of  all  poets  ;  one  who  most  admir- 
ably tempers  the  grave  with  the  gay;  and  that,  too,  not 
with  rude  and  uncultivated  gaiety,  but  such  as  becomes  a 


EXEECISES.  75 

gentleman,  so  that,  when  once  admitted,  as  Petsius  says, 
"  he  pUiys  around  the  heart  of  every  one  "  ?  To  this  must 
be  added,  that  every  one  of  us,  I  fancy,  retains  a  pleasing 
recollection  of  some  poem  of  Horace's,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  a 
line  or  two,  such  as  to  recall  by  the  mere  sound  of  the 
words  and  syllables,  the  delights  of  his  boyish  years  ;  and 
whatever  dreams,  whether  grave  or  cheerful,  chiefly  pleased 
him  then.  Moreover,,  a  circumstance  the  reverse  of  which 
perhaps  takes  place  in  most  departments  of  poetry,  even 
when  we  are  growing  old,  we  somehow  feel  all  the  greater 
pleasure  in  renewing  our  acquaintance  with  Horace.  But 
although  I  grant  all  this,  and  more  than  this,  I  am  com- 
pelled, nevertheless,  to  admit  that  I  have  never  yet  dis- 
covered any  source  of  poetry  which  Horace  can  claim  as  his 
own. 

54.  The  originality  of  Herodotus  fairly  entitles  him  to 
be  called,  in  one  sense,  the  '  Father  of  History.'  He  has,  of 
course,  some  general  traits  in  common  with  the  Ionian 
writers  of  his  own  or  an  earlier  day.  Like  them  he  records 
myths,  though  seldom  quite  uncritically ;  he  describes  for- 
eign countries  geographically  and  socially;  and  he  writes 
in  that  Ionic  dialect  which  was  then  the  recognized  organ 
of  literary  prose.  He  made  direct  use,  too,  of  some  earlier 
writers,  such  as  Hecataeus  and  Hellanicus.  But  no  one 
before  him  had  worked  large  masses  of  facts  into  a  sym- 
metrical whole,  with  unity  of  plan  and  thought.  He  was 
the  first  artist  in  prose.  As  a  historian,  he  fails  chiefly 
by  inattention  or  insensibility  to  political  cause  and  effect. 
He  will  account  for  a  great  event  merely  by  some  accident 
which  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  it,  without  seeking 
to  find  any  deeper  source.  And  he  tells  us  little  or  nothing 
about  constitutional  change.  His  charm  of  style  is  all  the 
greater  for  his  almost  child-like  simplicity,  and  he  is  one 
of  the  most  delightful  story-tellers.  His  narrative  flows 
on  in  what  the  Greeks  called  the  run7ung  style,  seldom 


76  EXERCISES. 

attempting  compact  periods.  Often  he  stops  to  tell  some 
quaint  little  story  by  the  way  —  like  that  of  Hippocleides,  a 
noble  suitor  for  the  daughter  of  the  great  prince  Cleisthenes, 
who  pained  his  intended  father-in-law  by  dancing  before 
the  company,  and  finally  stood  upon  his  head.  Cleisthenes, 
who  had  hitherto  restrained  himself,  exclaimed:  'Son  of 
Tisandrus,  you  have  danced  off  the  marriage ' ;  but  Hippo- 
cleides replied,  Hippocleides  does  not  eare.  Hence,  says 
Herodotus,  our  proverb. —  Jebb's  Greek  Literature. 

55.  Euripides  has  been  the  most  generally  popular  of 
the  three  tragedians  ;  his  homeliness  and  his  unrestrained 
pathos  bring  him  nearer  to  every-day  life.  But  in  his 
hands  tragedy  loses  that  ideal  beauty  which  Sophocles  had 
raised  to  perfection.  Euripides  cared  less  to  make  his  play 
a  harmonious  whole.  He  relied  more  on  particular  scenes 
or  situations.  As  his  drama  Avas  less  artistically  planned, 
he  was  obliged  to  help  it  out  by  mechanical  devices.  One 
of  these  was  a  '  prologue '  in  the  special  sense  —  a  long  set 
speech  at  the  opening  of  the  piece,  in  which  the  actor  gives 
a  sketch  of  the  facts  which  it  is  needful  for  the  spectators 
to  know.  Another  was  the  'god  from  a  machine'  —  a 
deity  brought  in  suddenly  to  cut  some  knot  in  the  action, 
'Sad  Electra's  poet,'  as  Milton  called  him,  excelled  in 
pathetic  power,  and  especially  in  expressing  the  sorrow  or 
tenderness  of  women ;  though  he  never  drew  a  woman  so 
noble  or  so  nobly  tender  as  the  Antigone  of  Sophocles. 
Kings  and  heroes  in  rags  or  on  crutches,  heroes  and  hero- 
ines bathed  in  tears,  lamentations  long  drawn  out,  abound 
in  his  plays ;  and  his  skill  in  working  on  the  feelings  led 
Aristotle  to  call  him,  not,  indeed,  the  greatest  dramatist, 
but '  the  most  tragic '  of  the  poets.  The  songs  of  the  chorus 
in  Euripides  have  less  to  do  with  the  action  than  in  ^Eschy- 
lus  or  Sophocles ;  and  he  made  much  use  of  lyric  monodies, 
plaintive  or  sentimental  airs  for  one  voice.  —  Ibid. 

56.  Unfortunately  Pliny's  best  oratory  has  perished,  but 


EXERCISES.  77 

•we  can  hardly  doubt  that  its  brilliant  wit  and  courtly  finish 
would  have  impressed  us  less  than  they  did  the  ears  of 
those  who  heard  him.  One  specimen  only  of  his  oratorical 
talent  remains,  the  panegyric  addressed  to  Trajan.  This 
was  admitted  to  be  in  his  happiest  vein,  and  it  is  replete 
with  point  and  elegance.  The  impression  given  on  a  first 
reading  is,  that  it  is  full  also  of  flattery.  This,  however,  is 
not  in  reality  the  case.  Allowing  for  a  certain  convention- 
ality of  tone,  there  is  no  flattery  in  it ;  that  is,  there 
is  nothing  that  goes  beyond  truth.  But  Pliny  had  the 
unhappy  talent  of  speaking  truth  in  the  accents  of  false- 
hood. Like  Seneca,  he  strikes  us  in  this  speech  as  too  clever 
for  his  audience.  Still,  with  all  its  faults,  his  oratory  must 
have  made  an  epoch,  and  helped  to  arrest  the  decline  for,  at 
least,  some  years.  It  is  on  his  letters  that  Pliny's  fame 
now  rests,  and  both  in  tone  and  style  they  are  a  monument 
that  does  him  honor.  They  show  him  to  have  been  a  gen- 
tleman and  a  man  of  feeling,  as  well  as  a  wit  and  courtier. 
They  were  deliberately  written  with  a  view  to  publication, 
and  thus  can  never  have  the  unique  and  surpassing  interest 
that  belongs  to  those  of  Cicero.  But  they  throw  so  much 
light  on  the  contemporary  history,  society,  and  literature, 
that  no  student  of  the  age  can  afford  to  neglect  them.  They 
are  arranged  neither  according  to  time  nor  subject,  but  on 
an  aesthetic  plan  of  their  author's,  after  the  fashion  of  a 
literary  nosegay.  As  extracts  from  several  have  already 
been  given,  we  need  not  enlarge  on  them  here.  Their  lan- 
guage is  extremely  pure,  and  almost  entirely  free  from  that 
poetical  coloring  which  is  so  conspicuous  in  contemporary 
and  subsequent  prose  writing.  —  Cruttwell's  Roman  Lit. 

57.  In  the  heroic  age  Greece  was  already  divided  into  a 
number  of  independent  states,  each  governed  by  its  own 
king.  The  authority  of  the  king  was  not  limited  by  any 
laws.  His  power  resembled  that  of  the  patriarchs  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  for  the  exercise  of  it  he  was  responsi- 


78  EXERCISES. 

ble  only  to  Jove,  and  not  to  his  people.  It  was  from  the 
Olympian  god  that  his  ancestors  had  received  the  suprem- 
acy, and  he  transmitted  it,  as  a  divine  inheritance,  to  his 
son.  He  had  the  sole  command  of  his  j^eople  in  war ;  he 
administered  to  them  justice  in  peace  ;  and  he  offered  on 
their  behalf  prayers  and  sacrifices  to  the  gods.  He  was  the 
general,  judge,  and  priest  of  his  people.  They  looked  up 
to  him  Avith  reverence  as  a  being  of  divine  descent  and 
divine  appointment ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  was  obliged 
to  possess  personal  superiority,  botli  of  mind  and  body,  to 
keep  alive  this  feeling  in  his  subjects.  It  was  necessary 
that  he  should  be  brave  in  war,  wise  in  council,  and  elo- 
quent in  debate.  If  a  king  became  weak  in  body,  or  feeble 
in  mind,  he  could  not  easily  retain  his  position.  But  as 
long  as  his  personal  qualities  commanded  the  respect  of 
his  subjects,  they  quietly  submitted  to  acts  of  violence  and 
caprice.  An  ample  domain  was  assigned  to  him  for  his 
support,  and  he  received  frequent  presents  to  avert  his 
enmity  and  gain  his  favor. —  Smith's  Greece. 

58.  All  the  rest  of  that  Day  I  spent  in  afflicting  myself 
at  the  dismal  Circumstances  I  was  brought  to,  viz.  I  had 
neither  Food,  House,  Cloaths,  Weai)on,  or  Place  to  fly  to, 
and  in  Despair  of  any  Relief,  saw  nothing  but  Death  before 
me,  either  that  I  should  be  devour'd  by  wild  Beasts,  mur- 
ther'd  by  Savages,  or  starv'd  to  Death  for  want  of  Food. 
At  the  approach  of  i^ight,  I  slept  in  a  Tree  for  fear  of  Avild 
Creatures,  but  slept  soundly  tho'  it  rained  all  Night.  In 
the  morning  I  saw  to  my  great  Surprise  the  Ship  had 
floated  with  the  high  Tide,  and  was  driven  on  Shore  again 
much  nearer  the  Island,  which  as  it  was  some  Comfort  on 
one  hand,  for  seeing  her  sit  upright,  and  not  broken  to 
pieces  I  hop'd,  if  the  Wind  abated,  I  might  get  on  board, 
and  get  some  Food  and  Necessaries  out  of  her  for  my 
Relief ;  so  on  the  other  hand  it  renew'd  my  Grief  at  the 
Loss  of  my  Comrades,  who  I  imagin'd  if  we  had  all  staid 


EXERCISES.  79 

on  board  might  have  sav'd  the  Ship,  or  at  least  that  they 
would  not  have  been  all  drown'd  as  they  were ;  and  that 
had  the  Men  been  sav'd,  we  might  perhaps  have  built  us  a 
Boat  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  Ship,  to  have  carried  us  to 
some  other  Part  of  the  World.  I  spent  great  Part  of  this 
Day  in  perplexing  myself  on  these  things,  but  at  length 
seeing  the  Ship  almost  dry,  I  went  upon  the  Sand  as  near 
as  I  could,  and  then  swam  on  board ;  this  Day  also  it  con- 
tinu'd  raining,  tho'  with  no  Wind  at  ^\\.  —  Roh'mson  Crusoe. 
59.  While  I  was  thus  looking  on  them,  I  perceived  two 
miserable  Wretches,  dragg'd  from  the  Boats,  where  it  seems 
they  were  laid  by,  and  were  now  brought  out  for  the 
Slaughter.  I  perceiv'd  one  of  them  immediately  fell,  being 
knock'd  down  I  suppose  with  a  Club  or  Wooden  Sword,  for 
that  was  their  way,  and  two  or  three  others  were  at  Work 
immediately  cutting  him  open  for  their  Cookery,  while  the 
other  Victim  was  left  standing  by  himself,  till  they  should 
be  ready  for  him.  In  that  very  Moment  this  poor  Wretch 
seeing  himself  a  little  at  Liberty,  Nature  inspired  him  with 
Hopes  of  Life,  and  he  started  away  from  them,  and  ran 
with  incredible  Swiftness  along  the  Sands  directly  towards 
me,  I  mean  towards  that  part  of  the  Coast  where  my  Hab- 
itation was.  I  was  dreadfully  frighted  (that  I  must 
acknowledge)  when  I  perceiv'd  him  to  run  my  way ;  and 
especially  when,  as  I  thought,  I  saw  him  pursued  by  the 
whole  Body,  and  now  I  expected  that  Part  of  my  Dream  was 
coming  to  pass,  and  that  he  would  certainly  take  Shelter  in 
my  Grove ;  but  I  could  not  depend  by  any  means  on  my 
Dream  for  the  rest  of  it  (viz.)  that  the  other  Savages  would 
not  pursue  him  thither  and  find  him  there.  However,  I  kept 
my  Station,  and  my  Spirits  began  to  recover,  when  I  found 
that  there  was  not  above  three  Men  that  follow'd  him  and 
still  more  encourag'd,  when  I  found  that  he  outstript  them 
exceedingly  in  Running,  and  gain'd  Ground  of  them  so  that 


80  EXERCISES. 

if  he  could  but  hold  it  for  half  an   Hour,  I   saw  easily  he 
would  fairly  get  away  from  them  all.  —  Robinson  Crusoe. 

60.  So  he  took  his  hunting  spears  and  called  his  dog  and 
went  out  into  the  woods  to  hunt.  All  day  he  wandered 
over  the  mountains,  and  late  in  the  afternoon,  panting  and 
fatigued,  threw  himself  on  a  green  knoll,  covered  with  moun- 
tain herbage,  that  crowned  the  brow  of  a  precipice.  Even- 
ing was  gradually  advancing.  He  saw  that  it  would  be  dark 
long  before  he  could  reach  the  village,  and  he  heaved  a 
heavy  sigh  at  the  thought  of  encountering  his  wife.  As 
he  was  about  to  descend  he  heard  a  voice  from  a  distance 
calling  his  name.  He  looked  round,  but  could  see  nothing 
except  a  crow  winging  its  solitary  flight  across  the  mountain. 
He  thought  his  fancy  must  have  deceived  him,  and  turned 
again  to  descend  when  he  heard  the  same  cry,  and  his  dog 
crept  with  a  growl  to  his  side  looking  fearfully  down  into 
the  glen.  The  master  looked  in  the  same  direction  and 
perceived  a  strange  figure  slowly  toiling  up  the  rocks,  and 
bending  uiultv  the  weight  of  something  he  carried  on  his 
back.  Going  down  to  help  him  he  found  a  man  in  outland- 
ish dress  carrying  a  great  cask  of  wine  up  the  hill,  who 
without  speaking  made  signs  for  the  huntsman  to  approach 
and  assist  him  with  the  load.  He  complied  with  his  usual 
alacrity,  and  mutually  relieving  each  other  they  clambered 
up  the  dry  bed  of  a  mountain  torrent,  that  seemed  to  issue 
out  of  a  deep  ravine.  Then  passing  through  the  ravine  they 
came  to  a  hollow  like  a  small  amphitheatre  where  they 
found  a  company  of  odd-looking  personages  amusing  them- 
selves by  rolling  huge  balls  against  wooden  figures  set  in 
rows. 

61.  The  strange  men  drew  out  the  wine  into  flagons  and 
made  signs  to  the  huntsman  that  he  should  serve  them  as 
they  played,  but  they  said  never  a  word  to  him.  He  obeyed 
with  fear  and  trembling,  but  at  last  recovering  courage, 
ventured,  when  no  one  was  looking  at  him,  to  taste  the 


EXERCISES.  81 

beverage  so  often  that  at  length  his  senses  were  overpow- 
ered and  he  fell  into  a  deep  sleep.  On  waking  he  found 
himself  on  the  green  knoll  whence  he  had,  first  seen  the  old 
man  of  the  glen.  He  rubbed  his  eyes,  —  it  was  a  bright 
sunny  morning.  He  recalled  the  occurrences  before  he 
fell  asleep.  "  0  that  wicked  flagon  !  that  wicked  flagon  ! " 
thought  he ;  "  what  excuse  shall  I  make  to  my  wife  ?  "  He 
looked  round  for  his  spears,  but  found  two  rusty  old  ones  in 
their  place.  The  dog,  too,  had  disappeared.  He  called'  to 
him,  but  all  in  vain.  He  suspected  that  his  silent  acquaint- 
ance of  the  evening  before  had  robbed  him,  and  determined 
to  revisit  the  scene  of  their  sport,  and  if  he  met  with  any 
of  the  party  to  demand  his  dog  and  weapons.  But  the  bed 
of  the  stream  was  now  full  of  rushing  water,  and  he  could 
not  get  into  the  ravine.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  morn- 
ing was  passing  away,  and  he  felt  hungry.  He  grieved  to 
give  up  his  dog  and  weapon,  he  dreaded  to  meet  his  wife  ; 
but  it  would  not  do  to  starve  among  the  mountains.  So 
with  anxious  heart  and  weary  limbs  he  turned  his  steps 
homeward.  All  things  seemed  different  wherever  he  came. 
Nobody  in  his  own  village  knew  him,  and  when  he  called 
to  a  dog  which  was  like  his  own,  the  cur  snarled,  showed 
his  teeth,  and  passed  on.  This  was  an  unkind  cut  indeed. 
"  My  very  dog,"  sighed  the  poor  man,  "  has  forgotten  me." 
62.  They  sailed  from  Palos  August  3.  It  took  them  a 
month  to  reach  the  Canary  Islands ;  but  after  they  had  passed 
those,  and  found  themselves  on  the  lonely  ocean  at  night, 
many  of  the  sailors  wept  and  declared  they  never  should 
return.  Columbus  quieted  them,  and  they  sailed  on,  day 
by  day,  sometimes  hopeful,  and  sometimes  mutinous.  Once 
the  sailors  plotted  to  throw  Columbus  overboard.  Often 
they  thought  they  saw  signs  of  land  ;  once  they  were  sure 
of  it,  and  it  proved  only  a  cloud.  At  last  land-birds  wei-e 
seen,  and  floating  twigs  with  red  berries,  and  a  piece  of 
wood  rudely  carved,  and  drifting  sea-weed,  to  which  live 


82  EXERCISES. 

crabs  were  clinging.  Finally  one  evening  at  ten  o'clock 
Cohimbus  saw  a  light  glimmering  across  the  water,  and  the 
next  morning  from  one  of  the  smaller  vessels  was  heard 
the  signal  agreed  upon  for  "  making  land."  It  was  a  very 
welcome  sound  ;  for  they  had  been  seventy-one  days  in 
crossing  the  ocean  which  is  now  crossed  in  seven.  The 
vessels  "  lay  to "  that  night ;  and  the  next  morning  they 
saw  a  wooded  island  six  miles  away,  and  crowds  of  natives 
running  along  the  beach.  We  may  imagine  how  Columbus 
felt,  when,  at  day-break,  he  was  rowed  to  the  shore  with 
banners  and  music,  and  when  he  stepped  upon  the  beach 
where  no  European  had  ever  before  landed. 

63.  It  must  have  been  an  exciting  thing  to  sail  with 
Henry  Hudson  up  that  noble  river,  where  no  white  man 
had  ever  sailed  before.  He  said  in  his  narrative  that  the 
lands  on  both  sides  were  "i^leasant  with  grass  and  flowers 
and  goodly  trees."  "It  is  as  beautiful  a  land  as  one  can 
tread  upon,"  he  declared,  "  and  abounds  in  all  kinds  of  excel- 
lent ship-timber."  The  Indians  came  out  to  meet  him  in 
canoes,  "  made  of  single  hollowed  trees,"  but  he  would  not 
let  them  come  on  board  at  first,  because  one  of  them  had 
killed  one  of  his  sailors  with  an  arrow.  After  a  while  the 
Dutchmen  put  more  confidence  in  the  Indians,  and  let  them 
bring  grapes  and  pumpkins  and  furs  to  the  vessel.  These 
were  paid  for  witli  bciids,  knives,  and  hatchets.  At  last  the 
Indians  invited  the  bold  sea-captain  to  visit  them  on  shore, 
and  made  him  very  welcome;  and  one  of  their  chiefs  "  made 
an  oration,"  and  showed  him  all  the  country  round  about. 
Henry  Hudson  sailed  up  as  far  as  where  the  town  of  Hud- 
son now  stands,  and  there  finding  it  too  shallow  for  his 
vessel,  sent  a  boat  farther  still  —  as  far  as  what  is  now 
Albany.  Then  he  turned  back  disappointed,  and  sailed  out 
of  the  "  Great  River,"  as  he  called  it,  and  went  back  to 
Holland.  Ho  never  saw  that  beautiful  river  again.  The 
Dutch  merchants  did  not  care  to  explore  it,  since  it  did  not 


1 


EXERCISES.  83 

lead  to  India,  and  Hiulson,  on  his  next  voyage,  went  to  the 
northern  seas,  hoping  to  find  the  passage  to  India  that  way. 

64.  While  the  Pilgrims  were  thus  establishing  them- 
selves at  Plymouth,  there  were  some  temporary  English 
settlements  made  at  other  places  along  the  coast.  But  the 
principal  colony  was  yet  to  be  founded.  On  the  29th  of 
June,  1629,  there  came  sailing  into  what  is  now  Salem 
harbor  five  vessels,  one  of  these  being  the  selfsame  "  May- 
flower "  that  had  first  brought  the  Pilgrims.  They  had 
been  six  weeks  and  three  days  at  sea ;  and  the  passengers 
called  the  voyage  "  short  and  speedy."  It  had  been  a  pros- 
perous voyage ;  and  the  only  person  who  described  it  says, 
"  Our  passage  was  both  pleasurable  and  profitable ;  for  we 
received  instruction  and  delight  in  beholding  the  wonders 
of  the  Lord  in  the  deep  waters,  and  sometimes  seeing  the 
sea  around  us  appearing  with  a  terrible  countenance,  and, 
as  it  were,  full  of  high  hills  and  deep  valleys ;  and  some- 
times it  appeared  as  a  most  plain  and  even  meadow." 
Then,  when  they  came  along  the  coast,  the  same  writer 
says,  "  By  noon  we  were  within  three  leagues  of  Cape  Ann ; 
and,  sfs  we  sailed  along  the  coast,  we  saw  every  hill  and 
dale,  and  every  island,  full  of  gay  woods  and  high  trees. 
The  nearer  we  came  to  the  shore,  the  more  flowers  in 
abundance ;  sometimes  scattered  abroad,  sometimes  joined 
in  sheets  nine  or  ten  yards  long,  which  we  supposed  to  be 
brought  from  the  low  meadows  by  the  tide.  Now,  what 
with  pine-woods  and  green  trees  by  land,  and  these  yel- 
low flowers  painting  the  sea,  made  us  all  desirous  to  see 
our  new  paradise  of  New  England,  whence  we  saw  such 
forerunning  signals  of  fertility  afar  off."  How  unlike  the 
first  approach  of  the  Pilgrims  to  Cape  Cod  in  the  frosty 
autumn  weather  !  —  Higginson's  Youny  Folks'  U.  S. 

65.  Then  another  great  source  of  anxiety  among  the 
Puritans  was  what  was  called  the  witchcraft  excitement. 
All  over  Europe,  two  centuries  ago,  it  was  firmly  believed 


84  EXERCISES. 

that  certain  persons  were  witches,  and  had  power  to  bewitch 
and  injure  other  people  by  magic  arts.  Perhaps  some  old 
woman,  living  by  herself,  would  be  accused  of  exerting 
this  magic  power  on  men  or  animals,  and  of  causing  disease 
or  death.  Then  the  poor  woman  would  be  accused  before  a 
magistrate,  and  Avould  be  examined,  and  perhaps  tortured 
to  make  her  confess  ;  then  she  would  become  so  frightened, 
or  excited,  as  to  say  that  she  was  really  a  witch,  and  per- 
haps to  accuse  others  :  and  so  it  spread  from  one  to  another. 
In  Scotland,  about  that  time,  four  thousand  persons  suf- 
fered death,  on  charge  of  witchcraft,  in  ten  years'  time ; 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  twenty  were  executed  in  Massa- 
chusetts. Sometimes  the  very  persons  who  were  accused 
would  do  and  say  such  strange  things  that  it  was  hard  to 
know  what  course  to  take  with  them.  A  young  girl,  for 
instance,  would  jump  up  in  church,  and  shout  out,  "Parson, 
your  text  is  too  long !  "  or,  "  There's  a  great  yellow  bird 
sitting  on  the  parson's  hat  in  the  pulpit !  "  and,  when  people 
did  such  strange  things,  the  magistrates  themselves  became 
excited.  Put,  the  more  severely  such  persons  were  treated, 
the  more  their  number  increased ;  so  that  the  persecution 
of  witches  nuult*  more  witchcraft ;  and  some  of  the  Puri- 
tans were  afterwards  very  much  asluum-d  of  what  they  had 
done. —  Higginson's  Yowig  Folks'  U.  S. 

06.  But,  however  carefully  they  may  have  built  their 
houses,  all  these  Indians  were  alike  in  being  a  roving  race, 
living  in  the  open  air  most  of  their  time,  and  very  unwilling 
to  be  long  confined  to  one  place.  They  were  always  moving 
about,  changing  their  abode  at  different  seasons  of  the  year, 
or  when  they  wished  to  pursue  a  (lilTcrcnt  kind  of  game. 
One  of  their  commonest  reasons  for  removing  was  that  they 
had  burned  the  woods  immediately  around  them.  So  when 
the  first  white  settlers  came,  and  the  Indians  were  ])uzzled 
to  know  why  these  strangers  arrived,  some  of  them  thought 
that  it  must  be  because  they  had  burned  up  all  the  wood 


1 


EXERCISES.  85 

in  the  country  from  which  they  came,  and  that  they  visited 
the  American  continent  merely  to  find  fuel. 

The  Indians  were  not  commonly  equal  to  the  Europeans 
in  bodily  strength :  they  were  not  so  strong  in  the  arms 
and  hands,  nor  could  they  strike  such  heavy  blows.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  their  endurance  was  wonderful.  They 
were  very  light  of  foot,  and  their  best  runners  could  run 
seventy  or  eighty  miles  in  a  day;  and  they  could  bear 
the  greatest  torture  without  uttering  a  groan.  In  the 
woods  they  could  hear  sounds,  and  observe  signs,  which  no 
white  man  could  perceive ;  and  they  had  the  power  of 
travelling  for  miles  in  a  straight  line  through  the  densest 
forest,  being  guided  by  the  appearance  of  the  moss  and 
bark  upon  the  trees.  —  Higgixson's  Young  Folks'  U.  S. 

67.  The  colony  that  had  least  trouble  with  the  Indians 
in  early  days  was  Pennsylvania.  This  was  partly  the  result 
of  the  wise  and  righteous  course  pursued  by  William  Penn, 
the  founder.  He  made  a  treaty,  in  the  very  year  of  his 
arrival  (1682),  with  the  Delawares  and  other  tribes.  Stand- 
ing under  a  great  elm-tree  at  Shackamaxon,  on  the  northern 
edge  of  Philadelphia,  he  told  the  Indians  how  he  meant  to 
treat  them.  He  said  to  them,  "  I  will  not  call  you  children, 
for  parents  sometimes  chide  their  children  too  severely; 
nor  brothers  only,  for  brothers  differ.  The  friendship  be- 
tween you  and  me  I  will  not  compare  to  a  chain,  for  that 
the  rains  might  rust,  or  the  falling  tree  might  break.  We 
are  the  same  as  if  one  man's  body  were  to  be  divided  into 
two  parts :  we  are  all  one  flesh  and  blood."  To  this  the 
Indians  replied,  "  We  will  live  in  love  with  William  Penn 
and  his  children  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  shall  endure." 
And  they  fulfilled  this  treaty.  Pennsylvania  is  said  to 
have  been  the  only  colony  where  the  evidence  of  an  Indian 
was  taken  in  court  against  that  of  a  white  man ;  and  the 
Indians  proved  themselves  worthy  of  this  just  treatment. 

The    Society   of  Friends,    or   Quakers,    in   iSTew  Jersey, 


86  EXERCISES. 

showed  the  same  generous  and  just  conduct  toward  the 
Indians ;  and  the  Indians  treated  them  equally  well. 
"  You  are  brothers/'  said  the  sachem ;  "  and  we  will  live 
like  brothers  with  you.  We  will  have  a  broad  path  for 
you  and  us  to  walk  in.  If  an  Englishman  falls  asleep  in 
this  path,  the  Indian  shall  pass  him  by,  and  say,  'He  is  an 
Englishman,  he  is  asleep :  let  him  alone.' " 

68.  But,  however  differently  the  thirteen  colonies  may 
have  been  founded  or  governed,  they  were  all  alike  in  some 
things.  For  instance,  they  all  had  something  of  local  self- 
government  ;  that  is,  each  community,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  made  and  administered  its  own  laws.  Moreover, 
they  all  became  subject  to  Great  Britain  at  last,  even  if 
they  had  not  been  first  settled  by  Englishmen;  and,  finally, 
they  all  grew  gradually  discontented  with  the  British  gov- 
ernment, because  they  thought  themselves  ill-treated.  This 
discontent  made  them  at  last  separate  themselves  from 
England,  and  form  a  complete  union  with  one  another. 
But  this  was  not  accomplished  without  a  Avar,  —  the  war 
commonly  called  the  American  Revolution. 

When  we  think  about  the  Revolutionary  War,  we  are 
very  apt  to  suppose  that  the  colonies  deliberately  came  to- 
gether, and  resolved  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Great  Britain. 
But  this  was  not  the  case  at  all.  When  the  troubles  began, 
most  of  the  people  supposed  themselves  to  be  very  loyal ; 
and  they  were  ready  to  shout  '•  God  save  King  George  !  " 
Even  after  they  had  raised  armies,  and  had  begun  to  fight, 
the  Continental  Congress  said,  "We  have  not  raised  armies 
with  the  ambitious  design  of  separating  from  Great  Britain, 
and  establishing  independent  states."  They  would  have 
been  perfectly  satisfied  to  go  on  as  they  were,  if  the  British 
government  had  only  treated  them  in  a  manner  they  thought 
just;  that  is,  if  Great  Britain  either  had  not  taxed  them, 
or  had  let  them  send  representatives  to  Parliament  in  return 
for  paying  taxes.     This  wish  was  considered  perfectly  rea- 


EXERCISES.  87 

sonable  by  many  of  the  wisest  Englishmen  of  that  day; 
and  these  statesmen  would  have  gladly  consented  to  either 
of  these  measures.  But  King  George  III.  and  his  advisers 
would  not  consent;  and  so  they  not  only  lost  the  opportu- 
nity of  taxing  the  American  colonies,  but  finally  lost  the 
colonies  themselves.  —  Higginson's  Yotmg  Folks'  U.  S. 

69.  And  we  can  safely  assume  something  more  than  this. 
Habits  and  opinions  alter  with  every  generation;  but  the 
great  principles  of  right  and  wrong  do  not  change.  Those 
who  founded  the  American  colonies  left  to  their  descendants 
many  examples  of  noble  lives  and  unseltish  purposes ;  and 
we  may  be  very  sure  that  those  who  are  to  carry  on  the 
institutions  they  founded  cannot  prosper  without  something 
of  the  same  high  motive  and  religious  self-devotion.  The 
first  great  mission  of  the  nation  was  that  of  proving  to  the 
world  that  republican  government  on  a  large  scale  was 
practicable.  In  this  attempt,  success  has  been  attained,  in 
spite  of  the  great  difficult}^  resulting  from  the  presence  of 
slavery,  and  the  annual  arrival  of  many  thousand  immi- 
grants, wholly  untrained  in  republican  institutions.  The 
civil  war  has  proved  that  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
when  at  peace  among  themselves,  are  strong  enough  for 
self-protection  against  any  foreign  power.  The  thing  now 
essential  to  Americans  is  to  guard  against  internal  as  well 
as  external  dangers,  to  purify  their  own  government,  edu- 
cate their  own  community,  give  to  the  world  an  example  of 
pure  lives  and  noble  purposes  ;  and  so  conduct  the  affairs  of 
the  republic  that,  as  President  Lincoln  said  in  his  Gettys- 
burg address,  "  Government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth."  —  Ibid. 

70.  The  first  great  attempt  to  make  the  plebeians  less  mis- 
erable was  the  agrarian  law  of  Spurius  Cassius,  b.c.  486. 
Spurius  Cassius  was  himself  a  patrician  and  had  been 
consul;  and  when  consul  had  done  good  service  to  the 
state  by  making  peace  with  the  Latins,  who  were  hence- 


88  EXERCISES. 

forth  to  be  the  equal  allies  of  Rome.  He  saw  the  sad  con- 
dition of  the  plebeians,  and  the  debts  which  they  were 
obliged  to  run  into,  and  which  brought  them  to  ruin  and 
misery.  He  proposed  accordingly,  that  pieces  of  the  public 
lands  should  be  divided  amongst  the  poor  plebeians.  The 
public  land  Avas  the  land  which  had  been  won  in  war,  and 
which  belonged  to  the  state.  Some  of  this  land  had  been 
divided  to  citizens  when  it  was  conquered,  and  some  had 
been  given  to  the  temples,  to  provide  for  the  service  of  the 
gods  whom  the  Romans  worshipjied.  What  was  left  be- 
longed to  the  state ;  but  the  state  meant  as  yet  the  patri- 
cians. So  the  patricians  fed  their  cattle  on  this  public 
land,  and  used  it  as  their  own.  "What  Spurius  Cassius 
proposed  was  that  some  of  this  land  should  be  divided 
amongst  the  poor  plebeians,  and  that  the  patricians  who  fed 
their  cattle  on  the  remainder  should  pay  a  rent  to  the  state 
for  doing  so.  It  seems  that  this  law  was  passed,  but  was 
never  carried  into  effect,  for  the  patricians  put  difficulties 
in  the  way.  They  hated  Spurius  Cassius  for  his  law,  and 
accused  him  of  conspiring  to  make  himself  popular  that  so 
he  might  become  a  king,  and  on  this  charge  they  put  him 
to  death  (b.c.  485).  But  this  Agrarian  Laio  was  never 
forgotten,  and  you  mvist  remember  what  it  was,  for  we  shall 
hear  of  it  again. 

71.  The  views  to  which  Cicero  thus  early  devoted  him- 
self he  continued  to  cherish  through  life,  even  while  com- 
pelled at  times  to  side  with  a  faction  wliieh  feared  and 
resented  them.  He  began  gradually  to  conceive  a  genuine 
interest  for  the  classes  whose  cause  he  advocated,  perhaps, 
we  may  say,  an  affection  for  them,  which  forms  one  of  the 
most  pleasing  features  of  his  character.  He  aimed  at  ele- 
vating that  middle  class  already  spoken  of,  as  a  pledge 
of  the  integrity  of  the  constitution.  He  labored  diligently 
to  soften  the  conflicting  views  of  the  nobility  and  coninions, 
of  the  Romans  and  Italians,  the  victors  and  the  vanquished 


EXERCISES.  89 

of  the  civil  wars.  Nor  was  his  political  course  warped  like 
that  of  his  leader,  Pompeius,  by  any  impatience  of  the  re- 
straints of  law,  such  as  might  naturally  arise  in  the  breast 
of  a  military  commander ;  nor  by  the  criminal  desire  to  rise 
above  them,  which  the  child  of  Strabo  and  the  lieutenant 
of  Sulla  might  be  supposed  to  inherit.  Cicero's  ambition 
was  ardent  and  soaring,  but  it  was  sincerely  limited  to 
acquiring  the  highest  honors  of  the  free  state.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  attaining  the  consulship,  and  as  consul  he  per- 
formed a  service  for  his  country  as  brilliant  as  any  recorded 
in  her  annals.  But  his  career  of  patriotism  and  loyal  ser- 
vice was  cut  short  by  the  jealousy  of  his  associates  and  the 
selfishness  of  his  early  patron.  —  Merivale's  Rome. 

72.  When  Pompeius  looked  back  upon  his  own  career 
from  the  time  of  his  return  from  Asia  in  the  enjoyment  of 
unexampled  glory,  and  with  the  prospect  of  exerting  almost 
unbounded  influence,  he  could  not  fail  to  observe  that  he 
had  fallen  from  the  summit  of  dignity  which  he  then  occu- 
pied, and  that  Csesar,  a  younger  aspirant,  was  threatening 
to  outclimb  him  at  no  distant  day.  He  might  remark  how 
different  had  been  the  course  they  had  respectively  pur- 
sued. The  one  had  awaited  in  j^roud  inaction  the  offer  of 
fresh  honors  and  powers,  the  other  had  seized  and  secured 
them  with  his  own  hands.  The  one  had  studied  to  increase 
the  confusion  of  public  affairs  by  balancing  faction  against 
faction ;  the  other  had  attached  himself  without  wavering 
to  the  party  with  which  he  was  hereditarily  connected. 
The  one  had  hoped  that  the  necessities  of  the  state  would 
at  last  combine  all  men  in  the  common  policy  of  elevating 
him  to  "  the  dictatorship  ;  the  other  had  applied  himself 
steadily  to  the  task  of  reducing  his  opponents  to  insignifi- 
cance, and  throwing  the  creation  of  a  supreme  ruler  into 
the  hands  of  his  own  devoted  adherents.  Pompeius  seems 
to  have  now  determined  to  alter  his  previous  course  and 
imitate  that  of  his  more  audacious   competitor   by  bolder 


90  EXERCISES. 

and  more  hazardous  steps,  suoli  as  he  had  not  shrunk  from 
himself  in  earlier  times  when  his  |)Ositi()n  was  still  to  be 
won.  —  Merivale's  Rome. 

73.  Nor  is  it  a  little  thing  that  by  breaking  through  the 
law  of  our  fathers  and  choosing  men  of  the  cominons  for 
consuls,  we  shall  declare  that  riches  are  to  be  honored 
above  that  rule  of  order  which  the  gods  have  given  to  us. 
Biches  even  now  can  do  much  for  their  possessor ;  but  they 
cannot  raise  him  above  the  order  in  which  he  was  born; 
they  cannot  buy  for  him  —  shame  were  it  if  they  could  — 
the  sovereign  state  of  the  consulship,  nor  the  right  to  offer 
sacrifice  to  the  gods  of  Rome.  But  once  let  a  plebeian  be 
consul,  and  riches  will  be  the  only  god  which  we  shall 
'ill  worship.  For  then  he  who  has  money  will  need  no 
other  help  to  raise  him  from  the  lowest  rank  to  the  highest. 
And  then  we  may  suffer  such  an  evil  as  that  which  is  now 
pressing  upon  the  cities  of  the  Greeks  and  the  great  island 
of  Sicily.  There  may  arise  a  man  from  the  loAvest  of  the 
people,  with  much  craft  and  great  riches,  and  make  himself 
what  the  Greeks  call  a  tyrant.  Ye  scarcely  know  what  the 
name  means — a  vile  person  seizing  upon  the  state  and 
power  of  a  king,  trampling  upon  our  law,  confounding  our 
order,  persecuting  the  noble  and  the  good,  encouraging  the 
evil,  robbing  the  rich,  insulting  the  poor,  living  for  himself 
alone  and  for  his  own  desires,  neither  fearing  the  gods  nor 
regarding  men.  This  is  the  curse  with  whitdi  the  gods  have 
fitly  punished  other  people  for  desiring  freedom  more  than 
the  laws  their  fathers  gave  them.  May  we  never  commit 
the  like  folly  to  bring  upon  ourselves  such  a  punishment ! 

74.  The  extreme  moderation  of  the  jiarty  opposed  to 
Appius  deserves  in  all  these  transactions  the  higliest  praise. 
They  composed  probably  a  majority  in  the  Senate,  and  if 
they  had  exerted  their  whole  strength,  they  would  have 
been  also  a  majority  in  the  comitia.  Yet  they  suffered 
Appius  to  defy  the  laws  for  a  period  of  two  years  and  a 


EXERCISES.  91 

half,  and  afterwards  they  allowed  him  to  be  elected  consul 
without  opposition ;  nor,  when  he  became  a  private  citizen, 
did  they  ever  impeach  him  for  the  violence  of  his  conduct. 
We  cannot  in  our  ignorance  of  the  details  of  these  times 
appreciate  fully  the  wisdom  of  this  conduct ;  but  as  violence 
begets  violence,  so  unquestionably  does  moderation  in  polit- 
ical contests  lead  to  moderation  in  return.  The  personal 
ambition  of  Appius  had  been  gratified  even  beyond  the 
law,  and  this  his  political  opponents  had  endured  at  the 
time,  nor  did  they  seek  to  punish  it  afterwards.  Nothing 
was  attempted  against  him  which  could  either  irritate  his 
own  passions  or  invest  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude 
with  the  character  of  a  martyr  in  their  cause.  If  he  had 
ever  carried  his  views  still  higher  than  to  a  five  years'  cen- 
sorship, if  the  hope  of  regal  dominion  had  ever  floated  be- 
fore his  eyes,  the  forbearance  shown  towards  him  deprived 
him  not  only  of  every  pretext  for  further  violence,  but, 
appealing  to  the  nobler  part  of  his  nature,  restrained  him 
for  very  shame  from  endeavoring  to  wrest  more  where  so 
much  had  been  already  yielded  to  him.  It  would  not  suffer 
him  to  assail  that  constitution  which  had  shown  itself 
towards  him  at  once  so  confident  and  so  placable. 

75.  Laws  they  are  not,  therefore,  which  public  approba- 
tion has  not  made  so.  But  approbation  not  only  they  give 
who  personally  declare  their  assent  by  voice,  sign,  or  act,  but 
who  let  others  do  it  in  their  names  by  right  originally,  at 
least,  derived  from  them.  As  in  parliaments,  councils,  and 
the  like  assemblies,  although  we  be  not  personally  ourselves 
present,  notwithstanding,  our  assent  is  by  reason  of  other 
agents  there  in  our  behalf.  And  what  we  do  by  others,  no 
reason  but  that  it  should  stand  as  our  deed  no  less  effect- 
ually to  bind  us  than  if  ourselves  had  done  it  in  person.  In 
many  things  assent  is  given,  they  that  give  it  not  imagining 
they  do  so,  because  the  manner  of  their  assenting  is  not 
apparent.     As  for  example,  when  an  absolute  monarch  com- 


92  EXERCISES. 

mandeth  his  subjects  that  which  seemeth  good  in  his  own 
discretion,  hath  not  his  edict  the  force  of  law,  whether  they 
approve  or  dislike  it  ? 

Again,  that  which  hath  been  received  long  since,  and  is 
by  custom  now  establislied,  we  keep  as  a  law  which  we  may 
not  transgress ;  yet  what  consent  was  ever  thereunto  sought, 
or  required  at  our  hands  ?  On  this  point,  therefore,  we  are 
to  note  that  since  men  naturally  have  no  full  and  perfect 
power  to  command  whole  politic  multitudes  of  men,  there- 
fore, utterly  without  our  consent,  we  could  in  such  sort  be 
at  no  man's  commandment  living.  And  to  be  commanded 
we  do  consent,  when  that  society  whereof  we  are  part  hath 
at  any  time  before  consented,  without  revoking  the  same 
by  the  like  universal  agreement.  —  Hooker,  Eccles.  Pol. 

76.  One  of  the  evils  most  liable  to  attend  on  any  sort  of 
early  proficiency,  and  which  often  fatally  blights  its  prom- 
ise, my  father  most  anxiously  guarded  against.  This  was 
self-conceit.  He  kept  me  with  extreme  vigilance  out  of  the 
way  of  hearing  myself  praised  or  of  being  led  to  make  self- 
flattering  comparisons  between  myself  and  others.  From 
his  own  intercourse  with  me  I  could  have  derived  but  a  very 
humble  opinion  of  myself,  and  the  standard  of  comparison 
he  always  held  up  to  me  was  not  what  other  people  did,  but 
what  a  man  could  and  ought  to  do.  He  completely  suc- 
ceeded in  preserving  me  from  the  sort  of  influences  he  so 
much  dreaded.  I  was  not  at  all  aware  that  my  attainments 
were  anything  unusual  at  my  age.  If  I  accidentally  had 
my  attention  drawn  to  the  fact  that  some  other  boy  knew 
less  than  myself,  which  happened  less  often  than  might  be 
imagined,  I  concluded  not  that  I  knew  much,  but  that  he, 
from  some  reason  or  other,  knew  little,  or  that  his  knowl- 
edge was  of  a  different  kind  from  mine.  My  state  of  mind 
was  not  humility,  but  neither  was  it  arrogance.  I  never 
thought  of  saying  to  m3'self,  I  am  or  I  can  do  so  and  so.     I 


EXERCISES.  93 

neither  estimated  myself  highly  nor  lowly ;  I  did  not 
estimate  myself  at  all. —  J.  S.  Mill,  Autobiography. 

11.  My  frankness  on  all  other  subjects  on  which  I  was 
interrogated  evidently  did  me  far  more  good  than  my 
answers,  whatever  they  might  be,  did  harm.  Among  the 
proofs  I  received  of  this,  one  is  too  remarkable  not  to  be 
recorded.  In  the  pamphlet,  "  Thoughts  on  Parliamentary 
Reform,"  I  had  said  rather  bluntly  that  the  working  classes, 
though  differing  from  those  of  some  other  countries  in  being 
ashamed  of  lying,  are  yet  generally  liars.  This  passage 
some  opponent  got  printed  in  a  placard,  which  was  handed 
to  me  at  a  meeting  chiefly  composed  of  the  working  classes, 
and  I  was  asked  whether  I  had  written  and  published  it. 
I  at  once  answered,  "  I  did."  Scarcely  were  these  two  words 
out  of  my  mouth  when  vehement  applause  resounded 
through  the  whole  meeting.  It  was  evident  that  the  work- 
ing people  were  so  accustomed  to  expect  equivocation  and 
evasion  from  those  who  sought  their  suffrages  that,  when 
they  found  instead  of  that  a  direct  avowal  of  what  was 
likely  to  be  disagreeable  to  them,  instead  of  being  affronted, 
they  concluded  at  once  that  this  was  a  person  whom  they 
could  trust.  —  J.  S.  Mill,  Autohiogmjjhij. 

78.  As  we  stand  amidst  the  ruins  of  town  or  country 
house  which  recall  to  us  the  wealth  and  culture  of  Roman 
Britain,  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  a  conquest  that  left  them 
heaps  of  crumbling  stones  was  other  than  a  curse  to  the 
land  over  which  it  passed.  But  if  the  new  England  which 
sprang  from  the  wreck  of  Britain  seemed  for  the  moment  a 
waste  from  which  the  arts,  the  letters,  the  refinement  of  the 
world  had  fled  hopelessly  away,  it  contained  within  itself 
germs  of  a  nobler  life  than  that  which  had  been  destroyed. 
The  base  of  Roman  society,  here  as  everywhere  throughout 
the  Roman  world,  was  the  slave,  the  peasant  who  had  been 
crushed  by  tyranny,  political  and  social,  into  serfdom.  The 
base  of  the  new  English  society  was  the  freeman,  whom  we 


94  EXERCISES. 

have  seen  tilling,  judging,  or  fighting  for  himself  by  the 
northern  sea ;  however  roughly  he  dealt  with  the  material 
civilization  of  Britain  while  the  struggle  went  on,  it  was  im- 
possible that  such  a  man  could  be  a  mere  destroyer.  War, 
in  fact,  was  no  sooner  over,  than  the  warrior  settled  down 
into  the  farmer,  and  the  home  of  the  freeman  rose  beside 
the  heap  of  goblin-haunted  stones  that  marked  the  site  of 
the  villa  he  had  burned.  The  settlement  of  the  English  in 
the  conquered  land  was  nothing  less  than  an  absolute  trans- 
fer of  English  society  in  its  completest  form  to  the  soil  of 
Britain. —  J.  E.  Green,  History  of  English  People, 

79.  But  William  had  no  sooner  recovered  from  his  sick- 
ness than  he  found  himself  face  to  face  with  an  opponent 
whose  meek  and  loving  temper  rose  into  firmness  and  gran- 
deur when  it  fronted  the  tyranny  of  the  king.  Much  of  the 
struggle  between  William  and  the  archbishop  turned  on 
questions  which  have  little  bearing  on  our  history.  But  the 
particular  question  at  issue  was  of  less  importance  than  the 
fact  of  a  contest  at  all.  The  boldness  of  Anselm's  attitude 
not  only  broke  the  tradition  of  ecclesiastical  servitude,  but 
infused  through  the  nation  at  large  a  new  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence. The  real  character  of  the  strife  appears  in  the 
primate's  answer  when  his  remonstrances  against  the  law- 
less exactions  from  the  church  were  met  by  a  demand  for  a 
present  on  his  own  promotion,  and  his  offer  of  five  hundred 
pounds  was  contemptuously  refused.  "  Treat  me  as  a  free 
man,"  Anselm  replied,  "  and  I  devote  myself  and  all  that  I 
have  to  your  service  ;  but  if  you  treat  me  as  a  slave,  you 
shall  have  neither  me  nor  mine."  A  burst  of  the  Red 
King's  fury  drove  the  archbishop  from  court,  and  he  finally 
decided  to  quit  the  country ;  but  his  example  had  not  been 
lost,  and  the  close  of  William's  reign  found  a  new  spirit  of 
freedom  in  England  with  which  the  greatest  of  the  con- 
queror's sons  was  glad  to  make  terms.  —  Ibid. 

80.  The  civilization  of  the  Greeks  and  the  development 


EXERCISES.  95 

of  their  language  bear  all'  the  marks  of  home  growth,  and 
probably  were  little  affected  by  foreign  infliience.  The  tra- 
ditions, however,  of  the  ,  Greeks  would  point  to  a  diffe-rent 
conclusion.  It  was  a  general  belief  among  them  that  the 
Pelasgians  were  reclaimed  from  barbarism  by  Oriental  stran- 
gers, who  settled  in  the  country  and  introduced  among  the 
rude  inhabitants  the  first  elements  of  civilization.  Many  of 
these  traditions,  however,  are  not  ancient  legends,  but  owe 
their  origin  to  the  philosophical  speculations  of  a  later  age, 
which  loved  to  represent  an  imaginary  progress  of  society 
from  the  time  when  men  fed  on  acorns  and  ran  wild  in  the 
woods  to  the  time  when  they  became  vmited  into  political 
communities  and  owned  the  supremacy  of  law  and  reason. 
The  speculative  Greeks  who  visited  Egypt  in  the  sixth  and 
fifth  centuries  before  the  Christian  era  were  profoundly 
impressed  with  the  monuments  of  the  old  Egyptian  mon- 
archy, which,  even  in  that  early  age  of  the  world,  indicated 
a  gray  and  hoary  antiquity.  The  Egyptian  priests  were  not 
slow  to  avail  themselves  of  the  impression  made  upon  their 
visitors,  and  told  the  latter  many  a  wondrous  tale  to  prove 
that  the  civilization,  the  arts,  and  the  religion  of  the  Greeks 
all  came  from  the  land  of  the  Nile.  These  tales  found  easy 
believers ;  they  were  carried  back  to  Greece,  and  repeated 
with  various  modifications  and  embellishments,  and  thus,  no 
doubt,  arose  the  greater  number  of  the  traditions  respecting 
Egyptian  colonies  in  Greece. —  Smith's  Greece. 

81.  Of  the  duties  of  the  Amphictyonic  Council,  nothing 
will  give  us  a  better  idea  than  the  oath  taken  by  its  members. 
It  ran  thus  :  ''  We  will  not  destroy  any  Amphictyonic  town, 
nor  cut  it  off  from  running  water  in  war  or  peace.  If  any 
one  shall  do  so,  we  will  march  against  him  and  destroy  his 
city.  If  any  one  shall  plunder  the  property  of  the  god  or 
shall  be  cognizant  thereof,  or  shall  take  treacherous  counsel 
against  the  things  in  his  temple  at  Delphi,  we  will  punish  him 
with  foot,  hand,  and  voice,  and  by  every  means  in  our  power." 


96  EXERCISES. 

We  thus  see  that  the  main  (hities  of  the  council  were  to 
restrain  acts  of  aggression  against  its  members,  and  to  pre- 
serve the  rights  and  dignities-  of  the  tempk>  at  Delphi.  It  is 
true  that  the  Amphictyons  sometimes  took  a  larger  view  of 
their  functions  ;  but  these  were  only  employed  for  political 
purposes  when  they  could  be  made  subservient  to  the  views 
of  one  of  the  leading  Grecian  States.  They  were  never  con- 
sidered as  a  national  congress,  whose  duty  it  was  to  protect 
and  to  defend  the  common  interests  of  Greece.  If  such  a 
congress  had  ever  existed,  and  its  edicts  had  commanded 
the  obedience  of  the  Greeks,  the  history  of  the  nation  would 
have  had  a  different  course.  The  Macedonian  kings  would 
probably  have  remained  in  their  subordinate  condition,  and 
united  Greece  might  even  have  defied  the  legions  of  con- 
quering Rome.  —  Smith's  Greece. 

82.  The  assumption  of  irresponsible  power  by  one  man 
had  become  abhorrent  to  the  Greek  mind.  A  person  thus 
raising  himself  above  the  law  was  considered  to  have 
forfeited  all  title  to  the  protection  of  the  law.  He  was 
regarded  as  the  greatest  of  criminals,  and  his  assassination 
was  viewed  as  a  righteous  and  holy  act.  Hence  few  despots 
grew  old  in  their  government,  still  fewer  bequeathed  their 
power  to  their  sons ;  and  very  rarely  did  the  dynasty  con- 
tinue as  long  as  the  third  generation.  Many  of  the  despots 
in  Greece  were  put  down  by  the  Lacedsemouians.  The 
Spartan  government,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  essen- 
tially an  oligarchy,  and  the  Spartans  were  always  ready  to 
lend  their  powerfvil  aid  to  the  support  or  the  establishment 
of  the  government  of  the  Few.  Hence  they  took  an  active 
part  in  the  overthrow  of  the  despots,  with  the  intention  of 
establishing  the  ancient  oligarchy  in  their  place.  But  this 
rarely  happened,  and  they  thus  became  unintentional  instru- 
ments in  promoting  the  princii)les  of  the  popular  party. 
The  rule  of  the  despot  had  broken  down  the  distinction 
between  the  nobles  and  the  general  body  of  freemen,  and, 


EXERCISES.  97 

upon  tlie  removal  of  the  despot,  it  was  found  impossible,  in 
most  cases,  to  reinstate  the  former  body  of  nobles  in  their 
ancient  jnivileges.  The  latter,  it  is  true,  attempted  to  re- 
gain them,  and  Avere  supported  in  their  attempts  by  Sparta. 
Hence  arose  a  new  struggle.  The  first  contest  after  the 
abolition  was  between  oligarchy  and  the  despot,  the  next 
which  now  ensued  was  between  oligarchy  and  democracy. 

83.  At  length  all  the  questions  of  dispute  were  settled. 
After  much  discussion,  an  article  was  framed  by  which 
Lewis  pledged  his  word  of  honor  that  he  would  not  counte- 
nance in  any  manner  any  attempt  to  subvert  or  disturb  the 
existing  government  of  England.  William,  in  return,  gave 
his  promise  not  to  cou.ntenance  any  attempt  against  the 
government  of  France.  This  promise  Lewis  had  not  asked, 
and  at  first  seemed  inclined  to  consider  as  an  affront.  His 
throne,  he  said,  was  perfectly  secure,  his  title  undisputed. 
There  Avere  in  his  dominion  no  non-jurors,  no  conspirators, 
and  he  did  not  think  it  consistent  with  his  dignity  to  enter 
into  a  compact  which  seemed  to  imply  that  he  Avas  in  fear 
of  plots  and  insxirrections  such  as  a  dynasty  sprung  from  a 
revolution  might  naturally  apprehend.  On  this  point,  hoAv- 
ever,  he  gave  way,  and  it  Avas  agreed  that  the  covenants 
should  be  strictly  reciprocal.  William  ceased  to  demand 
that  James  should  be  mentioned  by  name,  and  Lewis  ceased 
to  demand  that  an  amnesty  should  be  granted  to  James's 
adherents.  It  Avas  determined  that  nothing  should  be  said 
in  the  treaty,  either  about  where  the  banished  king  of  Eng- 
land should  reside,  or  about  the  jointure  of  his  queen.  But 
William  authorized  his  plenipotentiaries  at  the  congress 
to  declare  that  Mary  of  Modena  should  have  Avhatever,  on 
examination,  it  should  appear  that  she  Avas  by  law  entitled 
to  have.  —  Macaulay's  England. 

84.  Somers  was  too  wise  to  oppose  himself  directly  to 
the  strong  current  of  popular  feeling.  With  rare  dexterity 
he  took  the  tone,  not  of  an  advocate,  but  of  a  judge.     The 


98  EXERCISES. 

danger  which  seemed  so  terrible  to  many  honest  friends  of 
liberty,  he  did  not  venture  to  pronounce  altogether  vision- 
ary. But  he  reminded  his  countrymen  that  a  choice  be- 
tween dangers  was  sometimes  all  that  was  left  to  the  wisest 
of  mankind.  No  law-giver  had  ever  been  able  to  devise  a 
perfect  and  immortal  form  of  government ;  perils  lay  thick 
on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  and  to  keep  far  from  one 
evil  was  to  draw  near  to  another.  That  which,  considered 
merely  with  reference  to  the  internal  j^olity  of  England, 
might  be  to  a  certain  extent  objectionable,  might  be  abso- 
lutely essential  to  her  rank  among  European  powers  and 
even  to  her  independence.  All  that  a  statesman  could  do 
in  such  a  case  was  to  weigh  inconveniences  against  each 
other,  and  carefully  to  observe  which  way  the  scale  leaned. 
The  evil  of  having  regular  soldiers,  and  the  evil  of  not  hav- 
ing them,  Somers  set  forth  and  compared  in  a  little  treatise, 
which  was  once  widely  renowned  as  the  Balancing  Letter, 
and  which  was  admitted,  even  by  the  malcontents,  to  be  an 
able  and  plausible  composition.  He  knew  well  that  mere 
names  exercise  a  powerful  influence  on  the  public  mind. 
He  declared,  therefore,  that  he  abhorred  the  thought  of  a 
standing  army ;  what  he  recommended  was  not  a  standing 
army,  but  a  temporary  army.  —  Macaulay's  England. 

%o.  It  must  be  evident  to  every  intelligent  and  dispas- 
sionate man  that  these  declaimers  contradicted  themselves. 
If  an  army  composed  of  regular  troops  was  really  more  effi- 
cient than  an  army  composed  of  husbandmen  taken  from 
the  plough,  and  burghers  taken  from  the  counter,  how  could 
the  country  be  safe  with  no  defenders  but  luisbandmen  and 
burghers,  when  a  great  prince  who  Avas  our  nearest  neigh- 
bor, who  had  a  few  months  before  been  our  enemy,  and  who 
might  in  a  few  months  be  our  enemy  again,  kept  up  not 
less  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  troops  ?  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  spirit  of  the  English  people  was  such  that 
they  would  with  little  or  no  training  encounter  and  defeat 


EXERCISES.  99 

the  most  formidable  array  of  veterans  from  the  continent, 
was  it  not  absurd  to  apprehend  that  such  a  people  could  be 
reduced  to  slavery  by  a  few  regiments  of  their  own  country- 
men? But  our  ancestors  were  generally  so  much  blinded 
by  prejudice  that  this  inconsistency  passed  unnoticed. 
They  were  secure  where  they  ought  to  have  "been  wary,  and 
timorous  where  they  might  well  have  been  secure.  They 
were  not  shocked  by  hearing  the  same  man  maintain  in  the 
same  breath  that  if  twenty  thousand  professional  soldiers 
were  kept  up,  the  liberty  and  property  of  millions  of  Eng- 
lishmen would  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  Crown,  and  yet  that 
those  millions  of  Englishmen  fighting  for  liberty  and  prop- 
erty would  speedily  annihilate  an  invading  army  composed 
of  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  of  the  conquerors  of  Steinkirk 
and  Landen. —  Macaulay's  England. 

86.  I  here  stop  to  answer  one  possible  objection.  Is  it, 
I  may  be  asked,  needful  for  the  student  of  history  or  of 
language  to  be  master  of  all  history  and  of  all  language  ? 
Must  he  be  equally  familiar  with  the  tongue,  the  literature, 
the  political  institutions,  the  civil  and  military  events  of  all 
times  and  places  ?  Such  an  amount  of  knowledge,  it  may 
well  be  argued,  can  never  fall  to  the  lot  of  man.  And  some 
may  go  on  to  infer  that  any  doctrine  which  may  even  seem 
to  lead  to  such  a  result  must  be  in  itself  chimerical.  Now 
to  be  equally  familiar  with  all  history  and  language  is,  of 
course,  utterly  beyond  human  power.  But  it  is  none  the 
less  true  that  the  student  of  history  or  of  language,  and  he 
who  is  a  student  of  either  must  be  in  no  small  degree  a 
student  of  the  other,  must  take  in  all  history  and  all  lan- 
guage within  his  range.  The  degrees  of  his  knowledge  of 
various  languages,  of  various  branches  of  history,  will  vary 
infinitely.  Of  some  branches  he  must  know  everything, 
but  of  every  branch  he  must  know  something. 

87.  If  there  is  any  period  in  the  history  of  our  race  when 
beauty  came  down  to  earth,  as  it  were,  and  there  in  close 


100  '  EXERCISES. 

and  constant  companionship  with  men  lived  in  all  their 
thoughts  and  works,  then  it  follows  that  a  study  of  the  rec- 
ords and  monuments  of  that  period  will  bring  us  under  the 
strongest  and  most  immediate  influence  of  beauty.  Few 
will  be  found  —  and  I  should  not  despair  of  their  conversion 
when  found  —  to  deny  that  there  was  such  an  unparalleled 
epoch  while  the  Greeks  ran  through  their  short  career  upon 
earth.  Why  then  should  these  pricelessly  fresh  and  vivid 
impressions,  the  lessons  learned  by  our  race  in  its  youth, 
not  be  brought  within  the  horizon  of  every  college-bred 
man  ?  Should  any  invasion  of  facts  be  suffered  to  deprive 
us  of  our  intellectual  youth,  or  to  enfeeble  and  to  frustrate 
the  one  power  most  effectual  in  enabling  us  to  mould  all 
facts  to  our  enlightened  will  ?  There  is  but  one  possible 
analogy  to  the  singular  position  which  the  children  of  Hellas 
occupy  in  our  past,  and  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  unique 
importance  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  every  education 
which  is  to  establish  sane  and  stable  religious  conviction. 
The  lessons  which  Jewish  thought  and  Jewish  history  can 
and  must  teach  us  are  taught  unceasingly,  and  are  taught 
well.  These  lessons  do  not  depend  for  their  right  under- 
standing upon  ^a  detailed  study  of  Hebrew,  the  less  so 
because  the  more  essential  records  of  Christianity  are  lodged 
in  Greek  writings,  though  their  insi)iration  is  Jewish.  The 
insight  into  beauty,  on  the  other  hand,  which  is  given  us  by 
Greece  is  not  to  be  gained  at  second  hand  through  transla- 
tions and  explanations. —  L.  Dyer  on  the  Greek  Question. 

88.  On  the  twelfth  day,  as  he  was  lying  on  the  funeral 
pile,  he  returned  to  life,  and  told  them  what  he  had  seen  in 
the  other  Avorld.  He  said  that  when  he  left  the  body, 
his  soul  went  on  a  journey  with  a  great  eom})any,  and  that 
they  came  to  a  mysterious  place  at  which  there  were  two 
chasms  in  the  earth;  they  were  near  together;  and  over 
against  them  were  two  other  chasms  in  the  heaven  above. 
In  the  intermediate  space  there  were   judges  seated,  who 


EXERCISES.  101 

bade  the  just,  after  they  had  judged  them,  ascend  by  the 
heavenly  way  on  the  right  hand,  having  the  signs  of  the 
judgment  bound  on  their  foreheads,  and  in  like  manner  the 
unjust  were  commanded  by  them  to  descend  by  the  lower 
way  on  the  left  hand ;  these  also  had  the  symbols  of  their 
deeds  fastened  on  their  backs.  He  drew  near,  and  they  told 
him  that  he  was  to  be  the  messenger  who  would  carry  the 
report  of  the  other  world  to  men,  and  they  bade  him  hear 
and  see  all  that  was  to  be  heard  and  seen  in  that  place. 
Then  he  beheld,  and  saw  on  one  side  the  souls  departing  at 
either  chasm  of  heaven  and  earth  Avhen  sentence  had  been 
given  on  them,  and  at  the  two  other  openings,  other  souls, 
some  ascending  out  of  the  earth  dusty  and  worn  with  travel ; 
some  descending  out  of  heaven,  cleaa  and  bright.  And 
always  on  their  arrival  they  seemed  as  if  they  had  come 
from  a  long  journey,  and  they  went  out  into  the  meadow 
with  joy,  and  encamped  as  at  a  festival.  And  those  who 
knew  one  another  embraced  and  conversed.-JowETT's  PZaio. 
89.  The  modern  and  ancient  philosophical  world  are  not 
agreed  in  their  conceptions  of  truth  and  falsehood ;  the  one 
identifies  truth  almost  exclusively  with  fact,  the  other 
with  ideals.  There  is  a  like  difference  between  ourselves 
and  Plato,  which  is,  however,  partly  a  difference  of  words. 
For  we,  too,  should  admit  that  a  child  must  learn  many  les- 
sons which  he  imperfectly  understands.  He  must  be  taught 
some  things  in  a  figure  only,  and  some  perhaps  which  he  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  believe  when  he  grows  older ;  but  we 
should  limit  the  use  of  fiction  to  the  necessity  of  the  case. 
Plato  would  draw  the  line  somewhat  differently.  Accord- 
ing to  him,  the  aim  of  early  education  is  not  truth  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  but  truth  as  a  matter  of  principle.  The  child  is 
to  be  taught  first  simple  religious  truths,  and  then  simple 
moral  truths,  and  insensibly  to  learn  the  lesson  of  good 
manners  and  good  taste.  He  proposes  an  entire  reforma- 
tion of  the  old  mythology.     The  lusts  and  treacheries  of  the 


102  EXERCISES. 

gods  are  to  be  banished,  the  terrors  of  the  world  below  are 
to  be  dispelled,  the  misbehavior  of  the  Homeric  heroes  is 
not  to  be  a  model  for  youth.  But  there  is  another  strain 
heard  in  Homer,  which  may  teach  our  youth  endurance,  and 
something  may  be  learned  in  medicine  from  the  simple 
practice  of  the  Homeric  age.  The  principles  on  which  re- 
ligion is  to  be  based  are  two  only.  First,  that  Grod  is  true  ; 
secondly,  that  he  is  good. 

90.  Let  us  consider,  too,  how  differently  young  and  old 
are  affected  by  the  words  of  some  classic  author  such  as 
Homer  or  Horace.  Passages  which  to  a  boy  are  but  rhetori- 
cal commonplaces,  neither  better  nor  worse  than  a  hundred 
others  which  any  clever  writer  might  supply,  which  he  gets 
by  heart  and  thinks  very  fine,  and  imitates,  as  he  thinks, 
successfully  in  his  own  flowing  versification,  at  length  come 
home  to  him  when  long  years  have  passed  and  he  has  had 
experience  of  life,  and  pierce  him  as  if  he  had  never  before 
known  them  with  their  sad  earnestness  and  vivid  exactness. 
Then  he  aomes  to  understand  how  it  is  that  lines,  the  birth 
of  some  chance  morning  or  evening  at  an  Ionian  festival  or 
among  the  Sabine  hills,  have  lasted  generation  after  genera- 
tion for  thousands  of  years,  with  a  power  over  the  mind  and 
a  charm  which  the  current  literature  of  his  own  day  with 
all  its  obvious  advantages  is  utterly  unable  to  rival.  Per- 
haps this  is  the  reason  of  the  mediaeval  opinion  about  Virgil, 
as  of  a  prophet  or  magician,  his  single  words  and  phrases,  his 
pathetic  half-lines,  giving  utterance  as  the  voice  of  nature 
herself  to  that  pain  and  weariness,  yet  hope  of  better  things, 
which  is  the  experience  of  her  children  in  every  time. 

91.  There  is  not  even  ground  for  apprehension  in  what 
those  who  envy  my  friend  his  promotion  to  the  cabinet  pre- 
tend fills  them  with  alarm,  that  he  is  incapable  of  self- 
restraint  and  moderation,  that  he  will  use  tlie  honors  we 
confer  upon  him  for  his  own  ends.  This  is  not  human 
nature.     The  man  who  has  once  felt  that  he  is  regarded  by 


EXERCISES.  103 

parliament  and  the  people  as  a  beloved  and  valuable  citizen, 
considers  nothing  comparable  to  that  distinction.  I  could 
wish  that  this  distinction  had  befallen  many  I  could  men- 
tion on  their  first  entrance  to  public  life.  They  would  not, 
through  despair  of  obtaining  success  by  legitimate  means, 
have  turned  the  whole  force  of  their  intellect  to  the  pursuit 
of  vulgar  applause.  My  friend  has  been  through  life  so 
thoroughly  opposed  in  principle  to  these  fosterers  of  sedi- 
tion, that  when  I  hear  his  promotion  opposed,  am  con- 
strained to  believe  that  there  are  some  who  are  filled  with 
envy  at  his  exertions  and  zeal,  and  are  stung  at  seeing  a  life- 
long anxiety  to  assist  the  state  recognized  by  the  government 
and  the  people  at  large.  It  were  devoutly  to  be  wished 
that  many  whose  position  requires  similar  exertions  would 
imitate  his  laborious  life.  He  is  no  longer  young  or  in 
sound  health,  and  yet  he  never  denies  himself  to  any  peti- 
tioner, or  spends  upon  his  domestic  affairs  or  recreation  a 
legitimate  portion  of  his  time. 

92.  The  odium  of  Cicero's  death  fell  chiefly  on  Anthony, 
yet  it  left  a  stain  of  perfidy  and  ingratitude  also  on  Augus- 
tus, which  explains  the  reason  of  that  silence  winch  is 
observed  about  him  by  the  writers  of  that  age,  and  why  his 
name  is  not  so  much  as  mentioned  by  Horace  and  Virgil. 
For  although  his  character  would  have  furnished  a  glorious 
subject  for  many  noble  lines,  yet  it  was  no  subject  for  court 
poets,  since  the  very  mention  of  him  must  have  been  a 
satire  on  the  prince,  especially  while  Anthony  lived,  among 
the  sycophants  of  whose  court  it  was  fashionable  to  insult 
his  memory  by  all  the  methods  of  calumny  that  wit  and 
malice  could  invent.  Nay,  Virgil,  on  an  occasion  that 
hardly  could  have  failed  of  bringing  him  to  his  mind, 
instead  of  doing  justice  to  his  merits,  chose  to  do  an  injus- 
tice to  Kome  itself,  by  yielding  the  superiority  of  eloquence 
to  the  Greeks,  which  they  themselves  would  have  been 
forced  to  yield  to  Cicero.  —  Meri vale's  Rome. 


104  EXERCISES. 

93.  The  character  of  the  great  king  of  Pontus  has  come 
down  to  lis  huleu  with  all  the  crimes  liis  rivals'  malevolence 
could  fasten  upon  it ;  and  in  estimating  it  we  must  never 
forget  that  the  sources  from  which  our  historians  drew  their 
information  were  the  narratives  of  unscrupulous  foes.  We 
know  of  no  native  documents  which  they  could  have  con- 
sulted, and  the  memoirs  of  Sulla  himself,  the  personal  oppo- 
nent of  Mithridates,  were  doubtless  deemed  by  the  Romans 
the  most  authentic  records  of  the  contest  between  them. 
We  have,  however,  too  many  proofs  of  the  malignity  of 
their  writers  to  pay  any  respect  to  their  estimate  of  their 
enemies.  The  abilities  which  the  eastern  despot  exhibited 
may  justly  raise  a  prejudice  in  his  favor.  And  when  we 
consider,  iii  addition,  the  magnanimity  he  repeatedly  dis- 
played, we  shall  be  the  more  inclined  to  look  for  other 
explanations  of  the  crimes  imputed  to  him  than  the  natural 
barbarity  to  which  our  authorities  complacently  refer  them. 
The  massacre  of  the  Roman  settlers  throughout  their 
Asiatic  possessions,  which  followed  upon  the  success  of 
Mithridates,  is  more  likely  to  have  been  an  act  of  national 
vengeance  than  the  execution,  as  the  historians  report,  of  a 
tyrant's  mandate.  —  Merivale's  Borne. 

94.  The  king's  indignation  and  vexation  were  extreme. 
He  was  angry  with  the  opposition,  with  the  ministers,  with 
all  England.  The  nation  seemed  to  him  to  be  under  a  judi- 
cial infatuation,  blind  to  dangers  which  his  sagacity  per- 
ceived to  be  real,  near,  and  formidable,  and  morbidly  appre- 
hensive of  dangers  which  his  conscience  told  him  were  no 
dangers  at  all.  The  perverse  islanders  were  willing  to  trust 
everything  that  was  most  precious  to  them,  their  indepen- 
dence, their  property,  their  laws,  their  religion,  to  the 
moderation  and  good  faith  of  France,  to  the  winds  and  the 
waves,  to  the  steadiness  and  expertness  of  battalions  of 
ploughmen  commanded  by  squires ;  and  yet  they  were 
afraid  to  trust  him  with  the  means  of  protecting  them,  lest 


EXERCISES.  105 

he  should  use  those  means  for  the  destruction  of  the  lib- 
erties which  he  had  saved  from  extreme  peril,  which  he 
had  fenced  with  new  securities,  which  he  had  defended 
with  the  hazard  of  his  life,  and  which  from  the  day  of  his 
accession  he  had  never  once  violated.  He  was  attached, 
and  not  without  reason,  to  the  Blue  Dutch  Foot  Guards. 
The  vote  which  required  him  to  discard  them,  merely 
because  they  were  what  he  himself  Avas,  seemed  to  him  a 
personal  affront. —  Macaulay's  England. 

95.  One  more  word.  The  fashion  of  the  day,  by  a  not 
unnatural  reaction,  seems  to  be  turning  against  ancient  and 
classical  learning  altogether.  We  are  asked  what  is  the 
use  of  learning  languages  which  are  dead  ?  what  is  the  use 
of  studying  the  records  of  times  which  have  forever  passed 
away  ?  Men  who  call  themselves  statesmen  and  historians 
are  not  ashamed  to  run  up  and  down  the  land,  spreading 
abroad  wherever  such  assertions  will  win  them  a  cheer, 
the  daring  falsehood  that  such  studies,  and  no  others,  form 
the  sole  business  of  our  ancient  universities.  They  ask,  in 
their  pitiful  shallowness,  what  is  the  use  of  poring  over 
the  history  of  petty  states  ?  what  is  the  use  of  studying 
battles  in  .which  so  few  men  were  killed  as  on  the  field  of 
Marathon  ?  In  this  place  I  need  not  stop  for  a  moment  to 
answer  such  transparent  fallacies.  Still,  even  such  false- 
hoods and  fallacies  as  these  are  signs  of  the  times  which 
we  cannot  afford  to  neglect.  The  answer  is  in  our  own 
hands.  As  long  as  we  treat  the  language  and  the  history 
of  Greece  and  Eome  as  if  they  were  something  special  and 
mysterious,  something  to  be  set  apart  from  all  other  studies, 
something  to  be  approached  and  handled  in  some  peculiar 
method  of  their  own,  we  are  j)]aying  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

96.  If  the  characters  of  men  be  estimated  according  to 
the  steadiness  with  which  they  have  followed  the  true'  prin- 
ciple of  action,  we  cannot  assign  a  high  place  to  Hannibal. 


106  EXERCISES. 

But  if  patriotism  were  indeed  the  greatest  of  virtues,  and  a 
resolute  devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  country  were  all  the 
duty  that  a  public  man  could  be  expected  to  fulfil,  he  woidd 
then  deserve  the  most  lavish  praise.  His  whole  conduct 
displays  the  loftiest  genius  and  the  boldest  si:)irit  of  enter- 
prise happily  subdued  and  directed  by  a  cool  judgment  to 
the  furtherance  of  the  h'onor  and  interests  of  his  country  ; 
and  his  sacrifice  of  selfish  pride  and  passion  when,  after  the 
battle  of  Zama,  he  urged  the  acceptance  of  peace,  and  lived 
to  support  the  disgrace  of  Carthage  with  the  patient  hope 
of  one  day  repairing  it,  affords  a  strong  contrast  to  the 
cowardly  despair  with  which  some  of  the  best  of  the  Ro- 
mans deprived  their  country  of  their  service  by  suicide. 
Of  the  extent  of  his  abilities,  the  history  of  his  life  is  the 
best  evidence.  As  a  general,  his  conduct  remains  uncharged 
with  a  single  error.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and 
his  ascendancy  over  men's  minds  are  shown  by  the  uninter- 
rupted authority  which  he  exercised  alike  in  his  prosper- 
ity and  his  adversity  over  an  army  composed  of  so  many 
various  and  discordant  materials,  and  which  had  no  other 
bond  than  the  personal  character  of  the  leader.  As  a 
statesman  he  was  at  once  manly,  disinterested,  and  sensi- 
ble ;  a  real  reformer  of  abuses,  both  in  his  domestic  policy 
and  in  his  measures  with  respect  to  foreign  enemies,  keeping 
the  just  limit  between  weakness  and  blind  obstinacy. 

97.  Themistocles  is  one  of  those  characters  whicli  ex- 
hibit at  once  all  the  greatness  and  all  the  meanness  of 
human  nature.  Acuteness  in  foreseeing,  readiness  and  wis- 
dom in  contriving,  combined  with  vigor  and  decision  in 
acting,  were  the  characteristics  of  this  great  statesman,  and 
by  these  qualities  he  not  only  rescued  his  country  from 
imminent  danger  of  the  Persian  yoke,  but  enabled  her  to 
become  one  of  the  leading  states  of  Greece.  Yet  his  lofty 
geniils  did  not  secure  him  from  the  seductions  of  avarice 
and  pride  which  led  him  to  sacrifice  both  his  honor  and  his 


EXERCISES.  107 

country  for  the  tinsel  of  eastern  pomp.  But  the  riches  and 
luxury  which  surrounded  him  served  only  to  heighten  his 
infamy,  and  were  dearly  bought  with  the  hatred  of  his 
countrymen,  the  reputation  of  a  traitor,  and  the  death  of 
an  exile.  Aristides  died  about  four  years  after  the  banish- 
ment of  Themistocles.  The  common  accounts  of  his  pov- 
erty are  probably  exaggerated,  and  seem  to  have  been 
founded  upon  the  circumstances  of  a  public  funeral  and  of 
handsome  donations  made  to  his  three  children  by  the 
state.  But  in  ancient  times  these  were  no  unusual  marks 
of  respect  and  gratitude  toward  merit  and  virtue ;  and,  as 
he  was  archon  eponymous  at  a  time  when  only  the  first 
class  of  the  Solonian  census  was  admissible  to  this  office, 
he  must  have  enjoyed  a  certain  amount  of  property.  But 
whatever  his  property  may  have  been,  it  is  at  least  certain 
that  he  did  not  acquire  or  increase  it  by  unlawful  means  ; 
and  not  even  calumny  has  ventured  to  assail  his  well-earned 
title  of  the  Just.  —  Smith's  Greece. 

98.  From  early  youth  Caesar  was  a  statesman  in  the 
deepest  sense  of  the  word,  and  his  goal  was  the  highest 
which  man  may  set  before  himself,  namely,  the  political, 
military,  intellectual,  and  moral  regeneration  of  his  deep- 
sunken  country,  and  of  its  closely  related  sister  nation, 
Greece,  which  was  still  deeper  sunken  in  general  degradation. 
The  hard  school  of  thirty  years'  experience  changed  his 
views  about  the  means  by  which  his  goal  was  to  be  reached, 
—  the  goal  remained  the  same  in  his  times  of  hopeless 
humiliation  as  of  unbounded  power,  in  the  times  when  as 
demagogue  and  conspirator  he  stole  towards  it  on  dark  paths, 
as  when  as  joint  possessor  of  the  supreme  power,  and  after- 
wards as  monarch,  he  worked  upon  his  task  in  full  sunshine 
before  the  eyes  of  the. world.  All  of  the  measures  not  of 
purely  occasional  character,  which  took  their  rise  from 
him  at  the  most  different  times,  have  their  rational  place  in 
the  great  edifice  of  his  state.     Of  isolated  achievements  of 


108  EXERCISES. 

Caesar's,  therefore,  we  may  not  properly  speak ;  he  achieved 
nothing  isolated.  Eightly  is  he  celebrated  as  orator  for  his 
manly  oratory,  which  put  all  legal  art  to  the  blush,  like  the 
clear  flame  which  at  once  illuminates  and  warms ;  rightly  is 
he  admired  as  author  for  the  inimitable  simplicity  of  his  style, 
and  his  unique  purity  and  beauty  of  language ;  rightly  has 
he  been,  by  the  great  military  masters  of  all  times,  praised 
as  general,  for,  more  than  all  others,  nntrammelled  by  routine 
and  tradition,  he  had  the  skill  ever  to  find  that  method  of 
warfare  through  which,  in  the  given  case,  the  enemy  was 
conquered ;  and  which,  therefore,  in  the  given  case,  was  the 
right  one.  —  Mommsen  (translated  by  H.  P.). 

99.  Now  the  feature  which  distinguishes  man  from  other 
animals  is  that  he  is  able  to  observe  and  discover  these  laws 
which  are  of  such  mighty  moment  to  him,  and  direct  his 
conduct  in  conformity  with  them.  The  more  subtle  may  be 
revealed  only  by  complicated  experience.  The  plainer  and 
the  more  obvious  among  those  especially  which  are  called 
moral  have  been  apprehended  among  the  higher  races  easily 
and  readily.  1  shall  not  ask  how  the  knowledge  of  them  has 
been  obtained,  whether  by  external  revelation  or  by  natural 
insight,  or  by  some  other  influence  working  through  human 
faculties.  The  fact  is  all  that  we  are  concerned  with,  that 
from  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  historical  knowl- 
edge, there  have  always  been  men  who  have  recognized  the 
distinction  between  the  nobler  and  the  baser  parts  of  their 
being.  They  have  perceived  that  if  they  would  be  men  and 
not  beasts,  they  must  control  their  animal  passions,  prefer 
truth  to  falsehood,  courage  to  cowardice,  justice  to  violence, 
and  compassion  to  cruelty.  These  are  the  elementary  prin- 
ciples of  morality  on  the  recognition  of  which  the  welfare 
and  improvement  of  mankind  depend;  and  human  history 
has  been  little  more  than  a  record  of  the  struggle  which 
began  at  the  beginning,  and  Avill  (continue  to  the  end,  between 
the  few  Avho  have  had  the  ability  to  see  into  the  truth,  and 


EXERCISES.  109 

loyalty  to  obey  it,   and  the  multitude  who,  by  evasion  or 
rebellion,  have  hoped  to  thrive  in  spite  of  it.  —  Froude. 

100.  If  we  would  know  what  a  university  is,  considered 
in  its  most  elementary  idea,  we  must  betake  ourselves  to 
the  first  and  most  celebrated  home  of  European  civilization, 
to  the  bright  and  beautiful  Athens,  —  Athens  whose  schools 
drew  to  her  bosom,  and  then  sent  back  to  the  business  of 
life,  the  youth  of  the  western  world  for  a  long  thousand 
years.  Seated  on  the  verge  of  the  continent,  the  city 
seemed  hardly  suited  for  the  duties  of  a  central  metropolis 
of  knowledge ;  yet  what  it  lost  in  convenience  of  approach 
it  gained  in  its  neighborhood  to  the  traditions  of  the 
mysterious  East,  and  in  the  loveliness  of  the  region  in 
which  it  lay.  Hither  then  as  to  a  sort  of  ideal  land  where 
all  the  archetypes  of  the  great  and  the  fair  were  found  in 
substantial  being,  and  all  departments  of  truth  explored, 
and  all  diversities  of  intellectual  power  exhibited;  where 
taste  and  philosophy  were  majestically  enthroned  as  in  a 
royal  court  j  where  there  was  no  sovereignty  but  that  of  the 
mind,  and  no  nobility  but  that  of  genius ;  where  professors 
were  rulers,  and  princes  gave  homage,  —  hither  flocked 
continually  from  the  very  corners  of  the  orbis  terrarnm  the 
many-tongued  generation  just  rising  or  just  risen  into 
manhood,  m  order  to  gain  wisdom.  —  Cardinal  Newmax. 


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